Worth a Thousand Words

Clark Gable

Of course.

Found at Mental Floss Blog where you can also find a list of 10 facts about Clark Gable.

Humanae Vitae ... A Fresh, Vibrant Look at Married Life

As a stop gap while our next book was being ordered (A Jesuit Off Broadway), our Catholic women's book club read the encyclical letter, Humanae Vitae. It is the 40th year since Pope Paul VI released it, as most Catholics who browse the blogosphere are well aware.

Like most, I was vaguely aware of the contents but only through hearsay. I was blown away to find it a masterpiece of logic, reason, and thorough understanding of what a married couple strives for in their lives together.

This love is above all fully human, a compound of sense and spirit. It is not, then, merely a question of natural instinct or emotional drive. It is also, and above all, an act of the free will, whose trust is such that it is meant not only to survive the joys and sorrows of daily life, but also to grow, so that husband and wife become in a way one heart and one soul, and together attain their human fulfillment.

It is a love which is total—that very special form of personal friendship in which husband and wife generously share everything, allowing no unreasonable exceptions and not thinking solely of their own convenience. Whoever really loves his partner loves not only for what he receives, but loves that partner for the partner's own sake, content to be able to enrich the other with the gift of himself.

Married love is also faithful and exclusive of all other, and this until death. This is how husband and wife understood it on the day on which, fully aware of what they were doing, they freely vowed themselves to one another in marriage. Though this fidelity of husband and wife sometimes presents difficulties, no one has the right to assert that it is impossible; it is, on the contrary, always honorable and meritorious. The example of countless married couples proves not only that fidelity is in accord with the nature of marriage, but also that it is the source of profound and enduring happiness.

Finally, this love is fecund. It is not confined wholly to the loving interchange of husband and wife; it also contrives to go beyond this to bring new life into being. "Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the procreation and education of children. Children are really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute in the highest degree to their parents' welfare."

It was interesting the the group spanned young, single women; recently married; someone who is having her fifth child; and ... me, who will celebrate 25 years of married bliss next year. All of us found so much to relate to and were highly impressed by the care and regard the Pope had put into this piece. Moreover, 40 years later, we looked back and were mightily impressed as well in the breaking of the naturally intertwined cycle of marital love and the "generation of life" mankind broke so much more. I now have a much better understanding of why people say that contraception is what led to abortion. When one thing is taken casually in order to make life more convenient, then it begins a way of thinking that leads to casual convenience in other ways that do not hold life as sacred.

As well, because of my involvement for the past few years in our parish's Beyond Cana marriage retreat, I was able to see how this encyclical has so much of the essential understanding necessary for our marriages to be able to elevate us to the best that we can be ... rather than settling for second-best.

This is the barest of skimming of what we discussed.

I highly recommend that if you have not read this important document in a thoughtful fashion, that you take it up and do so. Do not be satisfied as I was to read what others say about it. Read it for yourself.

If You Count Every Number Twice ... You've Got Global Warming!

A surreal scientific blunder last week raised a huge question mark about the temperature records that underpin the worldwide alarm over global warming. On Monday, Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which is run by Al Gore's chief scientific ally, Dr James Hansen, and is one of four bodies responsible for monitoring global temperatures, announced that last month was the hottest October on record.

This was startling. Across the world there were reports of unseasonal snow and plummeting temperatures last month, from the American Great Plains to China, and from the Alps to New Zealand. China's official news agency reported that Tibet had suffered its "worst snowstorm ever". In the US, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration registered 63 local snowfall records and 115 lowest-ever temperatures for the month, and ranked it as only the 70th-warmest October in 114 years.

So what explained the anomaly? GISS's computerised temperature maps seemed to show readings across a large part of Russia had been up to 10 degrees higher than normal. But when expert readers of the two leading warming-sceptic blogs, Watts Up With That and Climate Audit, began detailed analysis of the GISS data they made an astonishing discovery. The reason for the freak figures was that scores of temperature records from Russia and elsewhere were not based on October readings at all. Figures from the previous month had simply been carried over and repeated two months running. ...

Read the whole story here. Via John C. Wright.

Worth a Thousand Words

Puerta en Roma.
Originally uploaded by drews32 and found by me in the Flickr Door Pool.

One Guy. One Composer. One Story.

Five minutes of telling Star Wars while spanning John William's movie scores ... highly enjoyable music and creativity (and, yes, you will also laugh).

Starting to see this around but Theophany All Over's headline made me listen.

New Online Faith Forum - From Loyola Press

In an effort to provide a place for people to share ideas and be inspired, Loyola Press has started an online community where you can start faith conversations, swap ideas, connect with old friends and new, and grow in your friendship with God.

We invite your readers to visit the forum which will be open this Friday, November 14th. It's simple – all you & your readers have to do is just login and let the conversation begin!

I actually got signed up but have been too busy to do any talking. It looks pretty good though and should be a good place to have some interesting conversations. Check it ou!

The work, she is overwhelming me ...

... so I will just be popping in briefly, at least until tomorrow.

Makes me glad that I posted a nice goodie that will pop up mid-morning for your enjoyment.

Worth a Thousand Words

Turtles Sunning by Hey Jules who knows how very much I love turtles, especially stacked in the sun!

Worth a Thousand Words

An Oddment by Duane Keiser
What's an oddment? Click through and find out.

Blog Awards Time Rolls Round Again

I tend to focus more on the Catholic Blog Awards because, let's face it, Catholic blogs are where I live.

However, I see that this year's Weblog Awards have returned Best Religious Blog as a category.

Nominate your choice for Best Religious Blog. This is a return for a category that was dropped last year. Our objection was that most of the nominated bloggers were not primarily religious bloggers, but were usually mostly news and politics bloggers. We'll be watching the nomination pool this year to see if the religious blogger community is larger than it was two years ago.

I know that folks who swing by here know of lots of fantastic bloggers who are primarily religious. Let's go nominate them so that the category will be taken seriously and others can see what a resource is out there should they be interested in reading thoughtful religious commentary.

Also, I like this awards because they have categories that relate to the Technorati authority (size) and so even the smallest bloggers have their own category (Hidden Gem). Here's the overall category listing if you want to venture further afield. I have to say that I can't find movie blogs for a nomination I want to make ... even though they have so much variety that there is even a podcast category (hint, hint) ... that's got to be because I'm not reading carefully enough.

A Fresh New Look for Loyola Press's Website

I heard they were redoing it but ... wow! This really looks great!

Via Not Lukewarm.

A "Champion of Abortion" Becomes Defender of Life

Madrid, Nov 12, 2008 / 09:21 pm (CNA).- Stojan Adasevic, who performed 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day, is now the most important pro-life leader in Serbia, after 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country.

"The medical textbooks of the Communist regime said abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue," the newspaper reported. "Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the 80s, but they did not change his opinion. Nevertheless, he began to have nightmares."

In describing his conversion, Adasevic "dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. 'My name is Thomas Aquinas,' the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican genius saint. He didn't recognize the name"

"Why don't you ask me who these children are?" St. Thomas asked Adasevic in his dream.

"They are the ones you killed with your abortions," St. Thomas told him.

Read the whole story which literally gave me chills when I read it. Truly amazing and a real blessing to both Adasevic's soul and the lives of the people he will touch from now on.

Much thanks to Mark Windsor for sending me the link.

There's No Such Thing as a Free Book. Or Is There?

Caite at a lovely shore breeze reviews plenty of books with a discerning eye. She receives review book copies and now takes up the question of whether receiving a review book constitutes an unspoken contract with the publisher.

She covers the myriad attitudes taken by different bloggers and also considers what the publishers expect in return. (She also lists many programs whereby bloggers can seek out review books ... you may want to read it simply for those program names if you blog and are an avid reader.)

I have seen blogs that don't really review but rather just sort of describe a book. I have read bloggers who say, happily, that never write a bad review. I don't 'get' that and it's not my cuppa tea, but if that's what floats your boat, grand.

But I want to be a salesman for books. Good books, exciting books, moving books, books that will change people, or make them scared or make them cry or make them laugh, books that they will remember for years and want others to read. That is my pleasure in a blog.

This is something that I have pondered myself, if not in such depth. My policy is that if I have picked up a book at the library or some such place or have received an unexpected package with review books ... they are fair game. I will give a good or bad review as I feel fit. Admittedly, I give few bad reviews because, like Caite, I usually am more interested in urging people to try books that I, personally, get excited about. Heck, I even began my Forgotten Classics podcast for the specific purpose of pushing my favorite books on others by reading aloud.

I will give the occasional bad review to books I feel it necessary to warn others against. However, many books are mediocre or just not to my taste and I don't bother mentioning them. There are plenty of those.

The only time I will decline to give a bad review, or any review at all, is if it is for a book that I have been specifically asked if I would like to review. I do feel that my agreement of having some interest in the book is an unspoken "contract" to that extent. This is especially true since some of these requests come from authors and I feel that it would be a kick in the teeth to take a book from them and then to trash it publicly. There are several cases where I have contacted an author or publisher's rep in such circumstances, explained my problems with giving any sort of review, and offered to return the book. On the other hand, I don't automatically feel it is necessary to give a glowing review in such circumstances. I always will be honest above all. Y'all know, though, that where I love, I love passionately or not at all. So ... you can take it from there.

Worth a Thousand Words

Mother Superior by Karin Jurick

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

FRANCIS • This has been a common name for men since the 1600s. Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) gets most of the credit for the popularization of the name, but he was actually baptized Giovanni. It was his nickname that would stick--Francesco--coined by his father after he returned from a trip to France. In Late Latin, the word franciscus means "Frenchman."

The Word Origin Calendar

The Onion on International Con Man, Barack Obama

CHICAGO—In a devastating blow to millions of unsuspecting Americans, newly elected president and international con man Barack Obama fled the country Wednesday with nearly $85 million in campaign funds. ...

"If you are reading this, then I have already left your silly country in my private jet, and am right now sipping fine champagne with my lovely associate, a woman you have come to know as 'Michelle.'"

Oh, The Onion, how funny it can be. I found the photos especially humorous. (Comment: humor can be explicit. Use your own discretion.)

UPDATE:
Elizabeth has some hilarious clips from the South Park post election special. Laugh out loud funny!

Christmas Shopping from Monastic and Cottage Businesses

I was going to assemble a post like this ... but I see that The Anchoress is waaay ahead of me (I'm not surprised!). I'm a sucker for fruitcake and mustard which I see among the offerings but I've got to admit I'm very intrigued by this lip balm and the lavendar hand lotion.

I’ve already proclaimed the lip balm made by the Dominican Nuns of Summit, NJ to be the BEST. Lip. Balm. Evah but I have to tell you the more I use their lavender scented hand lotion, the more I love it. The scent is light, the glide is smooth, the ingredients are pure and a little goes a looooong way. I like it as a whole-body lotion, too, not just for the hands. The sisters are getting very creative with their little shoppe, introducing a line of Christmas-themed soaps and pump-action room sprays in delicate scents. I haven’t tried the room sprays, yet - I’m not much of a girl for those things, as a rule, but they sound worth a shot. They also have balm/lotion samplers, soap gift crates and more. As the sisters are engaged in raising money to meet their day-to-day expenses, but they’re trying to make repairs to their growing house of prayer, and so they’re especially grateful for their customers.

I may be doing a lot of shopping from the folks in her post.

These Days Atheists Don't Understand How to Be Atheists

"Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."

I tell you, although I wish with all my heart that my mother and father would find faith, whining stories like these make me proud of their honest-to-goodness atheism.

They don't mess about pretending to be "left out." In fact, they practice that virtue which many of us wish that some of our religious brethren would take up ... they keep it to themselves, don't proseltyze, and let everyone believe what they wish.

Feel threatened because of "the holidays?" They would laugh at that. As true humanists, they glory in the secular aspects of Christmas and Easter (candy and lamb and some classic movies on tv). To feel threatened is to give power to something that they believe is nonexistant. As for needing an ad campaign to be good people ... they would scoff. We were raised in the good, old-fashioned secular way of being good people. No ad campaign needed for that. Just good values. Believe it or not, nonbelievers have them.

Give me a real atheist any time. They are honest enough with themselves that if the light shines bright enough then they might be honest enough to stop, wonder, and investigate it.

Thanks to The Anchoress for the heads-up on this one.

Thank You to Our Veterans

Although we Americans don't always appear to remember the sacrifice of our veterans, there are people in other countries that clearly do. Recently, my 86 year old father was in the hospital. One of his excellent nurses was from the Philippines. I mentioned to her that my dad had been in the Philippines during World War II. The nurse asked, "During the Japanese Occupation?" I said yes, that he was in the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific and had landed in Manila on the way home. She said, "So, you're one of those guys who liberated us?" ...

A touching commentary to which I add my wholehearted, "Thank you!"

52. It's a Comic Book. No, It's a Graphic Novel! NO, It's an Audio Book!

An audio book in two parts, to be precise.

My review can be found at SFFaudio.

This. Is. A. Gorgeous. Book

The Vatican: Secrets and Treasures of the Holy City

A few weeks ago I received an elaborate mailing piece for this book. I looked through it longingly and then resolutely threw the pieces in the trash. I had no business purchasing a book right now, even if it was a DK Publishing book ... those grown-up picture books that I love so much.

You can easily imagine my delight then when I received an email offering a review copy the next week.

What you may not be able to so easily imagine is just how beautiful this book is. In fact, I took it to my Scripture Study class the night I received it and was afraid I wouldn't get it back. Person after person paged through, lingering over the beautiful photography of the gardens, treasures, and buildings. Each of them asked the price ($35) and then would say, "That's all? But it's such a big book with so much in it..."


Actually, upon checking, I found that DK offers it for a nice discount and Amazon for an even steeper one.

So now that all those preliminaries are out of the way, just what is in this book?

The author is a historian and former Vatican employee who clearly knows his way around the ins and outs of Vatican City. He also knows the Vatican officials well enough to have gotten full cooperation and to be able to display some things that the regular visitor would never see.

Divided into six sections that cover the Church year, history, architecture, daily life, people and treasures, the book goes into much more depth than one would expect. True, many of the 320 pages feature the stunning photography that is DK's trademark. However, the history section has a succinct yet thorough overview of popes and their accomplishments than I expected. In fact, it is nice to see one that handles the basics so well without getting bogged down in the details. Admittedly I tend to read some very indepth books.


I think that my favorite section features people and their jobs. We see at work those famous Swiss Guards (and their training), the ceremonies assistant, the mosaic restorer, the papal photographer, and even what extensive practice that one must have to sing in the choir. All these have multiple photos and captions that put us in place with them.

However, I also enjoyed the architecture section more than I thought I would. Let's face it. It is unlikely that I will ever go to Rome, much less the Vatican. This book puts me there where so much that is integral to the Catholic faith takes place and has taken place for hundreds and hundreds of years.

This is well worth the price and would make a wonderful special Christmas gift for someone. Highly recommended.

To see more inside spreads, visit DK.com

Worth a Thousand Words

Macrocercus ararauna
Blue and yellow maccaw
by Edward Lear

(yes, that Edward Lear ...
read all about it at Bibliodyssey as well as see more of these gorgeous drawings)

Just Because It's Been Kinda Serious Around Here Lately, I Present ... The Hamburger Dress

Via Serious Eats. Is this great or what?

I Won! I Won!

I never win things. If you want to win something have Tom enter for it. He wins a disproportionate amount of the time.

But that streak is now broken. Here's the review of A Thousand Veils that inspired me to enter in the first place. It sounds like a fascinating book.

NaPraGoMo 2 (National Pray to God Month 2)

Why are we here at this blog? ...Or why are we here, period? Believe it or not, this post answers both questions.

Many of you may be familiar with NaNoWriMo, the month where everyone who bears a novel within buckles down and writes it out. As a twist on that fine idea, this is also a perfect month to gets one's prayer life jump-started, improved, deepened, etc. Hence "NaPraGoMo" (National Pray To God Month).

Prayer is the best of habits; it truly does change the way you see things. In stopping and lifting your mind and heart to God, you are giving God permission to act in you (God doesn't need permission, but He wants to be invited). Prayer also tells you in indelible ways who God is and who you were created to be. This website is a simple invitation to pray 15 minutes more than you usually do every day.

I will post a prompt (a prayer, a reflection, a picture, etc.) everyday. These will be more the greater lights of the Christian tradition and Scripture; that is, not me! As I am Catholic, some of these pieces may be rooted particularly in Catholic tradition, but my hope is that all Christians would find this a very welcoming place to be for the month. We share a love for the one, true God. I hope this website could lead people to become more accostumed with taking their concerns to God, and learn to listen a bit better and more often.

A fantastic idea ... which I'm late mentioning, naturally ... but don't let that stop you. Go check it out!

Cardinal Francis George - No Holds Barred on Abortion in Speech

Cardinal George from Chicago laid it on the line when opening the USCCB's meeting this morning. Per John Allen:

Cardinal Francis George, speaking this morning as president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, said all Americans should “rejoice” that a country which once tolerated slavery has elected an African-American as president – and, in the same breath, he issued a blunt challenge to the new administration on abortion.

“If the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, that African Americans were other people’s property and somehow less than persons, were still settled constitutional law, Mr. Obama would not be President of the United States,” George said.

"Today, as was the case a hundred and fifty years ago, common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good," he said.

“The common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society when those waiting to be born can be legally killed at choice,” George said, drawing sustained applause from the bishops.

George said that while efforts to end racism and to promote economic justice are “pillars” of Catholic teaching, so too is opposition to abortion. His address drew a standing ovation from the bishops.

I love that guy!

Read all of John Allen's report here. Whispers in the Loggia has the full text of the speech.

Denying Humanity Through Language

... Yet I noticed that when I became pregnant with my first child, I wasn't terrified of losing the "fetus" to miscarriage; I was terrified of losing the baby. When I was 10 weeks pregnant I didn't buy a handheld Doppler so that I could lie in bed and listen to the "clump of tissue"'s heartbeat; I was listening to my child's heartbeat.

When my doctor first told me that I was pregnant, I remember her asking me what vitamins I was taking. I told her about a brand I liked from Whole Foods, and she cut me off in mid-sentence to give me a stern lecture. It was my responsibility to look out for this little person, she told me, and proceeded to inform me of all the amazing development my baby was going through right now. She gave me a prescription for superior vitamins and rattled off a list of dietary changes I needed to make to nourish my baby.

Less than a year later an acquaintance went to this same doctor with a surprise pregnancy that she did not want. The doctor assured her that the procedure for expelling the "fetus" was a simple one and scheduled her for an abortion. This woman was at the same stage of pregnancy as I had been at that first visit, but the word "baby" was not used at her appointment. I was offered an ultrasound to see my new child with my own eyes; she was not. ...

Jen from Conversion Diary has more to jolt us into thinking about what we choose to overlook and downgrade in her piece, Abortion and Holocaust Comparisons.

Worth a Thousand Words

Stuck taken by Hey Jules at Late to Life

Worth a Thousand Words

Eiffel Tower at Sunset
taken by ParisDailyPhoto

It's First Friday ... Fasting and Praying for an End to Abortion

Ok, I realize this is a very late notice ... I actually remembered to do it, but forgot to blog it!

However, if you're joining in and forgot, just pick another day. Tomorrow's first Saturday which would be another lovely day to offer it up for all those who aren't here to enjoy the fall weather, watch football, and feel the love of their families and friends the way that we can.

It all began here in Dallas -- in our home town, where we raise our families, where we go to church, where we live, and love, and learn, and work.

We are three bloggers who also live in the Dallas area. We are deeply committed to ending abortion in this country. To that end, we have committed ourselves to the following: On each First Friday for the next eleven months, we will fast and pray before the Blessed Sacrament for an end to abortion. This year's commitment will culminate at the annual Dallas March for Life in January of 2009, where we will join our bishop and the faithful of this city in marching to the courthouse where Roe was originally argued.

Original Joint Announcement

In addition to unborn babies and their families, I will be including all those who work to end abortion, as well as the souls of those who work for abortion in my intentions. Also included will be solid catechesis for all Catholics as that is a key issue to most of the misunderstandings on both this issue and others in the secular world.

Zo's Aftermath Message ... Inspirational

Heavens, how I love this guy!

Worth a Thousand Words

The Fast Day Meal. 1731. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin. (From Olga's Art Gallery)

How Do We Step Back from Our Cultural Immersion and Recognize Evil?

What litmus test could you offer that would apply to all places and all times as a way for a person to look around themselves with completely clear eyes, piercing through even the thickest fog of self-delusion and widespread cultural acceptance, and see that they are surrounded by grave evil? Is there any simple way for a person to immediately undergo an earth-rocking paradigm shift in which they look up and realize that the world around them is not what they thought it was?

One thing that stands out in all these examples is that the victims of the widespread evil were categorized as something less than human. In fact, though the exact level and degree of evil that took place may vary, one thing that unites all of these practices as worthy of a place in the Human Depravity Hall of Fame is not only that innocent people were killed or enslaved, but that their humanity was taken away by the societies around them. The Nazis classified their victims as sub-human, less worthy of life than the better members of the race; wives were burned with their husbands because they were seen as nothing more than property; in the 90's in Rwanda the media fueled the genocide by assuring citizens over and over again that Tutsis were not fully human, referring to them as insects rather than people; the Romans accepted it as a matter of fact that baby girls inherently had fewer rights to live than baby boys; and in early America enslaved men, women and children were accepted by both government and society at large to be barely above livestock in their dignity and worth.

A simply fantastic piece by Jen at Conversion Diary. All prompted by a seemingly innocent photo. Do go read and ponder.

What We Are Now ... And What We Can Become

Many thanks to my friend Don for sending me this link ... the lucky guy, he was there to hear this homily given on the All Saints Vigil. It works today just as well as on that cusp of a feast day. This is the bit that hit me between the eyes, but, of course, do go read the whole thing.

Neither should not be discouraged by the stark contrast between what we are now and what the saints came to be. No saint ever began at the end. St. Augustine began with the prayer, “Lord, give me chastity, but not now.” St. Jerome was told by our Lord that he was more of a Ciceronian than a Christian. And St. Theresa of Avila was a lukewarm religious for 18 years.

No saint began in the ecstasy of love which they now experience. They all began only with the mustard seed of faith, and a clear call from God. With that, they simply acted in accordance with reason.

They made the only rational choice available to them. They simply believed what they knew to be the testimony of the Eternally Begotten Son of God.

They simply understood something every child understands: Truth himself cannot lie. And like a very small child, who has not yet learned how to doubt, who latches onto his Father’s finger, with all the force of his fragile fist, so did the saints grasp on to God and let Him lead them – and sometimes carry them - wherever He willed. They trusted him when He told them that this is a love story. They believed Him when He said, “I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly.” Having believed, they tasted. And having tasted, they fell in love.

We are surrounded by darkness, the darkness of atheistic nihilism and the culture of death, which proclaims that we came from nothing, and that we are going back to nothing, and that human life is ultimately meaningless, marriage is meaningless, everything is meaningless - and that the best we can do is seek some small pleasure or distraction in the passing trifles of this meaningless world, but, thanks be to God, this darkness has not overcome the light which shines within our souls.

We also believe. ...

It is for this reason that we pester and nag those we know who do not believe. It is not because we are right ... it is because, being in love, we want the whole world to be in love as we are. We want that joy and love to be a part of the lives of those who we, in turn, love so much. Having found a good thing, indeed the best of all possible things, we want to pass it on ...

Worth a Thousand Words

Daydreamin'
taken by Hey Jules

A Deadly Irony

I didn't watch any election returns, opting to catch up on a past episode of Chuck. The one thing that I can celebrate is that Obama's election and the hard-fought campaign show how far our country has come in looking at a person for who they are ... and not what color they are. That is worth celebrating. However, in my mind, it is not enough to give me any sort of "happy" feeling. I see it as being more of a concrete acknowledgment of something that has been practiced in much of America for a long time already, at least among those people that I know.

At any rate, I didn't see the scene that so many did of the family onstage during the acceptance speech. However, Historical Christian sums up both what we can celebrate and the deadly irony that we can lament. Here's a bit and then please do go read it all.

... There was one moment that really stuck me, that seemed a powerful symbol of what could perhaps be a truly new era: when both families joined Obama on the stage. And there stood a mix of black and white people, an interracial group now comprising the first families of the nation.

And it wasn’t the white, but the black family that was the First Family, with the white family in support.

What a wonderful image. On the pure level of image, all politics aside, it did give one tiny, faint part of me joy. As I’ve written on this blog before, I hate racism, and I love black people. I want to see them succeed, and excel. On that level, in one very small part of me, I am happy.

But there were also the painful ironies of the night. The first black President – who is radically pro-abortion, when the black community is disproportionally affected by abortion, far more black babies aborted than any other race. ...

Of Bread and Circuses and the Church Militant

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

More than ever today I am reminded of our society's resemblance to first century Rome. The masses have spoken and overwhelmingly plumped for bread and circuses over harder issues of life. So be it. We have seen grandiose promises. Now there are no excuses for not delivering.

Not for nothing are Christians on earth called the Church Militant. Ours is a warrior's lot, albeit that of a warrior who changes things through personal actions versus slinging arrows (or hard words). Time for us to remember that and toughen up.

Personally, I feel a sense of relief that the election is over and that we know quite clearly what we face. I also feel a sense of emotional emptiness. Some of that also may be the fact that I discovered a couple of days ago that my mother is experiencing kidney failure (reports vary on the extremity of this condition). As well, we continually struggle, as do many, with money and all that jazz.

Whatevah. That's the point of our faith is it not? God is with us always and everywhere and the point of our lives is not to have everything always go our way. Life isn't all sunshine and lollipops and the evidence is all around us. As Paul reminds us:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

Hebrews 4:15-16

Also, as a friend of mine reminded me this morning, we have the words of Blessed Julian of Norwich:

All will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well.

We have learned much during the campaign. Foremost in my mind:

• Our bishops hopefully will remember this wake up call that the disgracefully poor catechesis of the American faithful has led to a wrongly ordered set of priorities.
  
• I was stunned at the weak excuses and self-justification grasped by some friends who loudly profess faithful Catholicism, in order to justify votes. They were helped with both hands in this by expert logic twisters like Douglas Kmiec but most of them are smart enough to see the faults, had they cared to dig deep enough to try to find the real truth. Likewise, I was reminded just how little logic most people use ... and it is very sad to realize this about friends. However, we are all human and none of us perfect. It is for me to remember this and not be stunned when I am reminded of it.

This morning I inadvertently turned to the wrong week of my In Conversation with God devotional and found the perfect commentary for those feeling overwhelmed at the struggle ahead to maintain the culture of life.

... We can find it difficult to understand many of the things the Lord permits in our life -- pain, sickness, economic ruin, unemployment, the death of a loved one ... Yet God's plans are ordered to our eternal happiness. Our mind can barely make out the most immediate of realities. Shouldn't we put our trust in the Lord, in his loving Providence? Are we to trust the Lord only when things are going our way? We are in God's hands. We could never find a safer refuge. The day will come at the end of our life when the Lord will explain his ways to us, down to even the most insignificant occurrences.

In the face of every setback, of every failure, of every incomprehensible event and blatant injustice, we should reflect on those consoling words of the Lord: What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand. [Said to Peter when he asks why Jesus is washing his feet.] Then there will be no resentment or sorrow. ... If what happens to us is good, God wants it for us. If it is bad, He does not want it for us, but allows it to happen because He respects man's freedom and the order of nature; in such unlikely circumstances it is nonetheless in God's power to obtain good and advantage for the soul -- even bringing it out of evil itself. (F. Suarez, The Afterlife)

... The Lord will also show us how to view our problems with objectivity. We should take care to see things as they really are. We should not invent problems because of a lack of humility or an over-active imagination. There are many times when a contradiction can be born quietly without making a big issue of it and allowing it to develop into some kind of Greek tragedy.

So onward Christian soldiers. Let us pray. Let us fast. Let us go into the world and make a difference in our own lives, families, and work. That is the leaven the first century Christians brought to the Roman empire that changed the world. They put their faith in the concrete reality of Christ's promises and the example of his life.

We are no less than they. Onward.

"Let the world see. That's America!"

A co-worker and I went to the diner we love, for lunch. It was festooned with American flags and the old guy at the cash register was wearing a flags [on his clothes]: “Didja see all the people lined up to vote this morning?,” he said, beaming. “That’s America. No matter who wins. Let the world see. That’s America!”

The Anchoress's brother Thom's anecdote reminds us of what cuts through the lines of party and issues, red and blue. When we have record numbers of voters, we all win.

The Anchoress also takes the long view which I think is good for everyone to remember.

No matter what happens in this election, take the long view - look further than today, and understand that everything we think, all of our instincts and our imaginative scenarios are limited, because our understanding is always limited. Which is why it is always so good to pray as Solomon did, “Lord, give me an understanding heart.”

An excellent piece about God's will, the world, and our lack of understanding.

Thank You Early Voters!

While 40-50% of Dallasites waited in line up to 4 hours in order to vote early (up from the usual 20%), I was able to stroll right in, vote, and leave in 5 minutes.

There is definitely something to be said for everything in it's appointed time!

Worth a Thousand Words

Blanche Scott [between 1910 and 1915] (from the Library of Congress photos on Flickr)

Prayer After An Election

From the USCCB.

God of all nations,
Father of the human family,
we give you thanks for the freedom we exercise and the many blessings of democracy we enjoy in these United States of America.

We ask for your protection and guidance for all who devote themselves to the common good, working for justice and peace at home and around the world.

We lift up all our duly elected leaders and public servants, those who will serve us as president, as legislators and judges, those in the military and law enforcement.

Heal us from our differences and unite us, O Lord, with a common purpose, dedication, and commitment to achieve liberty and justice in the years ahead for all people, and especially those who are most vulnerable in our midst.

Amen.

Prayer Before An Election

From the USCCB.

Lord God,
as the election approaches,
we seek to better understand the issues and concerns that confront our city, state, and country,
and how the Gospel compels us to respond as faithful citizens in our community.

We ask for eyes that are free from blindness
so that we might see each other as brothers and sisters,
one and equal in dignity,
especially those who are victims of abuse and violence, deceit and poverty.

We ask for ears that will hear the cries of children unborn and those abandoned,
men and women oppressed because of race or creed, religion or gender.
We ask for minds and hearts that are open to hearing the voice of leaders who will bring us closer to your Kingdom.

We pray for discernment
so that we may choose leaders who hear your Word,
live your love,
and keep in the ways of your truth
as they follow in the steps of Jesus and his Apostles
and guide us to your Kingdom of justice and peace.

We ask this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

I would like also to direct any Catholic undecided voters to these guides to inform their consciences and order their priorities.

Worth a Thousand Words

The Entrance to the Fountain of Pomona, Known as Fontanone, at the Villa d'Este in Tivoli. 1760. Red chalk. Jean-Honoré Fragonard. (From Olga's Art Gallery)

What Would Jesus Do?

Over the weekend I received a long email from a gentleman deploring the desire to use legislation in stopping abortion. He began by talking about higher brain function and then went on a long and winding road that moseyed by gay marriage along the way and wound up postulating that Jesus would not support changing abortion laws.

I will admit that along the way I began wondering if Jesus felt as tired when faced with the Pharisees' and Sadduecees' little legal puzzles as I did upon looking at all the logical constructs that this gentleman mustered in support of his view.

Honestly, I have no idea what Jesus would say to this gentleman. However, thinking of the model that Jesus presented of a pithy presentation, usually composed of Scripture, here is what occurred to me as I was reading the Gospel of Matthew this morning. It will have to suffice ...

Thus says the Lord, "You shall not kill.

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.

See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name ..."

Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.

(Sources Exodus 20:13, Isaiah 49:15-16 Matthew 25:45)

McCain on SNL: A True Maverick...a Republican Without Money

John McCain and Tina Fey ... truly hilarious.



Via Deacon Greg.

BTW, the little aside that Palin/Fey had with the camera was echoing what I have already thought, as undoubtedly have others.

Check out Roger Ebert's commentary on McCain and Fey on SNL which then goes on to assess Palin's star power. Here's a bit of it:

She didn't learn how to be a vice president during this campaign, but she learned how to be a star. Star power is real. It's celebrity that is fake. ...

Sarah Palin will never, ever, be another Marilyn Monroe. That's because she is an original, like Monroe was, and she plays Sarah Palin better than anyone else possibly could. Notice I didn't say, "plays herself." I don't think she does. From what we know from old tapes, she didn't even once talk like that. Nor did Norma Jean Baker ever talk like Marilyn Monroe. It's a matter of projecting yourself into a persona that vibrates with people. ...

That's why she's had that uncanny effect on people. Some voters like her so much they're voting for Palin, not President. In office, she might do better than Marilyn, who didn't have the hands-on executive experience, and couldn't look out of her house without bodyguards. If she is not elected, I think Americans will discover they want to keep her around.

We Should All Desire to Be Saints

I hadn't even remembered this train of thought from last year and was put in the surprising situation of enlightening ... myself! I repost it for today's feast of All Saints' Day for anyone else who is interested and also doesn't remember it!

Shortly after he converted to Catholicism in the late 1930s, Thomas Merton was walking the streets of New York with his friend, Robert Lax. Lax was Jewish, and he asked Merton what he wanted to be, now that he was Catholic.

“I don’t know,” Merton replied, adding simply that he wanted to be a good Catholic.

Lax stopped him in his tracks.

“What you should say,” he told him, “is that you want to be a saint!”

Merton was dumbfounded.

“How do you expect me to become a saint?,” Merton asked him.

Lax said: “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you will consent to let him do it? All you have to do is desire it.”

Deacon Greg's homily

I read this earlier in the week. It really made an impression and kept returning to my mind.

Yes, the goal is to get to Heaven, but didn't I expect a stopover in Purgatory? Didn't everyone I talked to laugh somewhat about how long they'd be stuck there too?

It struck me that what this attitude reflects is not aiming for Heaven, but settling for Purgatory. We should be happy that Purgatory is there like the net under tightrope walkers, to catch us if we fall short. But we should be aiming for, and expecting, to achieve our greatest potential ... that for which God created each and every one of us. That with His grace and our cooperation we can each be a saint.

St. Teresa of Avila crossed my mind. St. John of the Cross. You know where I'm going with this right? Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (a.k.a. Mother Teresa). The dark night of the soul. I know that these saints thought it worthwhile but I'm not into signing up for that duty.

I then thought of my grandfather, Raymond. A wonderful man, always happy and cheerful, willing to work hard to help anyone who needed it ... an anonymous saint to the Church but one to all who knew him. No dark night of the soul there. Yet, I'm sure he skipped right over Purgatory. Would I be willing to follow his example? Of course.

I thought of my patron, Saint Martha (you know, of the "Mary has chosen the better part" story). The last time we see her serving is notably different from the first. Mary is washing Jesus' feet and Martha is mentioned as serving in the background. To me that says she has learned the lesson Jesus gave her about "the better part." Would I be willing to follow her example? Natch.

My glance fell on a book I recently received about Solanus Casey, a favorite of mine because he was a humble porter whose holiness shown through to the people of Detroit. Similar to St. John Vianney, another favorite of mine (yes, I have lots of favorites), in that both found studies difficult and consequently were not thought much of by their orders.

Of course, it was borne in upon me yet again that we have so many examples of all the different sorts of saints God makes to suit each time and place. Why I would feel that it necessarily requires a "dark night of the soul" I don't know ... how silly of me!

The culmination of all this thinking took place last night while I was waiting for the Vigil Mass to begin. I was saying the rosary (more about that in another post) and kept coming back to the subject of saints. I got a growing feeling of excitement and anticipation at the unknown future when we completely give ourselves over to God ... when we desire to become a saint. Nothing new here intellectually that's sure, but for me it is that sense of possibilities, of waiting for a surprise ... and that is always what we discover when God is involved.

I'm not settling any more. I'm aiming higher.

More Goodness on the Saints

• From my favorite Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the papal household's homily.

  One day, a saint, St. Symeon the New Theologian, had a mystical experience of God that was so strong he exclaimed to himself, "If paradise is no more than this, it is enough for me." But the voice of Christ told him, "You are very poor if you content yourself with this. The joy you have experienced in comparison to paradise is like the sky painted on paper in comparison to the real sky."



• Steven Riddle, reports a conversation he had with his son, Samuel, who had the benefit of spending time with a wise priest.

  ... I asked Sam what happened on the trip, where did they go?
  
  "To a cemetery."
  
  " A cemetery?" I asked.
  
  "Yes, and Father said that some people are afraid of cemeteries, but a cemetery wasn't a place to be afraid of. It was a place where the people you knew here started on their way to Jesus and that was a good thing." ...

• November is the month when we think of Purgatory and pray for all souls (whose day is tomorrow). Vultus Christi has an old prayer specifically for intercession for the souls in Purgatory. Thanks to Web for telling me about this one.


• Patrick O'Hannigan considers whether it is the main task of life to become heroic. This one doesn't start out about the saints but how can he help winding up there? This bit is going in my quote journal but go read it all.

  Turning again to a musical cue, as is my wont, I like to suppose that there's a reason that the saints go marching in. They do not shamble. They do not sneak. They do not sashay, crawl, clomp, duck walk, sidle, sprint, strut, shuffle, somersault, or slither. They've been through the boot camp of life on Earth, and they've fought the good fight. They answer to the King of Kings. It's going to show in how they present themselves.

• Isn't this gorgeous? There's more where that came from ... Recta Ratio.

Weekend Joke

Combining two of my favorite joke genres, Cajuns and ghosts, from the incomparable Miss Cellania.

This happened about a month ago just outside of Cocodrie, a little town in the bayou country of Louisiana, and while it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's real.

This out of state traveler was on the side of the road, hitchhiking on a real dark night in the middle of a thunderstorm. Time passed slowly and no cars went by. It was raining so hard he could hardly see his hand in front of his face. Suddenly he saw a car moving slowly, approaching and appearing ghostlike in the rain. It slowly and silently crept toward him and stopped.

Wanting a ride real bad the guy jumped into the car and closed the door; only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the wheel, and no sound of an engine to be heard over the rain. Again the car crept slowly forward and the guy was terrified, too scared to think of jumping out and running. The guy saw that the car was approaching a sharp curve and, still too scared to jump out, he started to pray and begging for his life; he was sure the ghost car would go off the road and in the bayou and he would surely drown!

But just before the curve a shadowy figure appeared at the driver's window and a hand reached in and turned the steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend. Then, just as silently, the hand disappeared through the window and the hitchhiker was alone again! Paralyzed with fear, the guy watched the hand reappear every time they reached a curve. Finally the guy, scared to near death, had all he could take and jumped out of the car and ran to town.

Wet and in shock, he went into a bar and voice quavering, ordered two shots of whiskey, then told everybody about his supernatural experience.

A silence enveloped and everybody got goose bumps when they realized the guy was telling the truth (and not just some drunk).

About half an hour later two guys walked into the bar and one says to the other, "Look Boudreaux, ders dat idiot that rode in our car when we wuz pushin it in the rain."

Email Notice

We had a huge server crash yesterday and among other major things, one thing that went down was email.

If you have sent me an email in the last week or so and had been waiting for an answer or to see a notice posted, etc., please be aware that it has been lost to me for good. If I answered since yesterday afternoon then I've got your communication.

Feel free to resend. I am getting emails now, but can't answer them from home for the time being. I'll probably set up another account but am waiting to see how things are going in picking through the wreckage.

I would like to ask for prayers in guiding Tom as he picks up all these pieces and puts them back together for our clients and our business. Thanks.

That Was Unexpected

Lying in bed, usually I hear the strains of classical music broken up with traffic reports and a bit of "top headlines."

Didn't expect to hear that I'd slept through a 2.5 magnitude earthquake ...

C'mon, Lighten Up ...

I was startled to run into a usually eminently sensible Catholic this morning who barely held back from a rant about Halloween. He said that if kids dressed up as saints then he had no objection. Otherwise he had no use for Halloween.

Talk about sucking all the fun out of the holiday! That feeling is akin in my mind to Richard Dawkins' lamentably literal condemnation of Harry Potter because it is an "anti-scientific" fairy tale.

What is it about Americans that makes us unrelentingly hew to such Puritanical lengths? (Yes I realize Dawkins is English but his extreme zeal makes him a prime candidate to immigrate ... and, remember, those Puritans originally came from England.)

I recommend to all those similarly minded that they seek out Ray Bradbury's short story Usher II from The Martian Chronicles.

In the meantime, they can go read Darwin's Short Halloween Rant instead.

I don't have anything against the idea of having a saints themed costume party on All Saints Day -- there's no real tradition behind it, but it's not a bad idea. However, All Saints Day is Nov. 1st, not Oct. 31st. And I'm not really sure why we as Catholics should feel the need to counter-program against Halloween parties. Certain Protestant groups, certainly, are convinced that all that surrounds Halloween is evil superstition, but there's no reason for Catholics to go off the deep end about this stuff.

Others on record in supporting Halloween can be found here:

• Aliens in This World who pulls in G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown in support
  
  
• Simcha ... But I'll tell you the thing I really enjoy about Halloween: at least it's not a religious holiday -- I mean, Halloween as a boo, eek, Kit-kat and Smartees, oh-how-cute day, setting aside saint and souls and praying and such, which is a different day.
  
  
• Last but certainly not least, The Anchoress...

  I was excitedly discussing our Halloween plans at a meeting one night, when this woman told me I was being used as a tool for the devil “to make evil ordinary.”
  
  I told her that evil is made ordinary every single day on television and in movies and in how we treat each other, and that my gleeful Halloween antics had less to do with making “evil ordinary” than in proving that externals are mostly powerless over us, except as our own minds and souls perceive them. I said, “mock the devil he will flee from thee…”

For those wanting true tradition, I recommend Recta Ratio. You won't find a better source anywhere for history about all things of the faith, including Halloween!

Word of the Day: Irenic

irenic

Main Entry:

Pronunciation:

\ī-ˈre-nik, -ˈrē-\

Function:

adjective

Etymology:

Greek eirēnikos, from eirēnē peace

Date:

circa 1864

: favoring, conducive to, or operating toward peace, moderation, or conciliation

Merriam Webster Online

I actually had to go look this up as it was entirely new to me. I came across it in TS's comment:

... Christian unity is personal for me, having a non-Catholic wife, but the better reason to care about Christian unity is for Christ's sake. The irenic Julie Davis puts it beautifully in her review ...

He never says the name of the book but he's talking about my review of The Shack, which I generally liked but which one must read critically. Thank you for the new word and (I think) the self-definition.

Looking Both Ways

You Know You're a Republican If ...
You think public education is broken and doesn't deserve more money,
and you send your children to an expensive private school.

You Know You're a Democrat If ...
You think public education is the backbone of America, it just needs more money,
and you send your children to an expensive private school.

You Know You're a Republican/Democrat If...

Worth a Thousand Words

Coming and Going by Barcelona Photoblog

No Comments? No Reason ...

Haloscan suddenly isn't working for the comments boxes, although the Haloscan Support Team tells me that "everything looks fine to us."

The emails I'm receiving beg to differ.

I'm trying to work through it as I prefer Haloscan to Blogger's comments. However, if it continues for too long, I'll switch to Blogger.

Right at the moment I don't have time to fiddle with anything ... that busy, busy work thing.

Thanks for your understanding ... and I MISS YOUR COMMENTS!

Do You Trust Your Father With Your Life?

Now there's an interesting question.

It is even more interesting in the context given by the Internet Monk as it arose in a classroom discussion. Very thought provoking.

I'd give you a snippet but I want it to unfold for you the way it did for me when I was reading it. Just go read it.

This has given me much food for thought, especially taken together with a discussion at last night's scripture study about how Americans' individual independence makes it so difficult for us to understand the strength of the "clan" in both Old and New Testament times. In fact, this very independence which we nurture and cherish is what makes it difficult to understand the concept that my sin hurts the whole body of Christ, just as my virtue enriches it.

Halloween Countdown: Costumes

Mental Floss Blog ( the only blog that has ever moved me to subscribe to a magazine, by the way), has 10 Epic Costumes.

Though, to be honest, my favorite costumes are those such as we see at The Anchoress where she has a defense of Halloween with plenty of adorable costume pics.

A LIttle Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

WEREWOLF • In Old English, this word actually translates literally into its meaning. The prefix wer- in Old English meant "man," with the compound form, werewulf meaning "man-wolf." Wer itself derives from the Latin form vir, where it also means "man," from which we also get the English word "virile."

The Word Origin Calendar

Worth a Thousand Words

California Flower Fields by Belinda Del Pesco

Thank You

Much thanks to everyone who has so kindly commented or emailed about Daffy's death. I hadn't planned on dragging everyone with me along through that sad event but the more I reflected on those words flashing into my mind, the more that I felt perhaps I should share it.

I actually do feel very calm and peaceful about the whole thing which I attribute to the many prayers that have been said for me and for our family. Which is amazing in itself when I think of how many people have been so kind over our dog's death.

Some people, who know us more personally, have been asking about Pepper's reactions. He is our gentle giant, a black lab-Great Dane mix of 115 pounds who is sweet, self-effacing, and terrified of our cat (which tells you something). Pepper doesn't seem to have noticed a thing, unless we are doing something that used to be a "group activity" such as when Tom takes the dogs along on the way to put the trash out and Pepper checks down the hall to see if Daffy is going to come barreling along at a breakneck speed.

On the contrary, it is interesting to watch his personality bloom a bit. Daffy was not a bully but she was always "on" and we wonder if that may not have been overpowering for Pepper. He is suddenly lying in main traffic areas, bringing in all his bones from the backyard "bone yard" and leaving them around, and when I took him for a walk this morning he went at a relaxed pace and didn't pull my arm off as usual.

We were talking about getting a new puppy fairly soon (or puppies ... we think it would be fun to have two Boxers to play with each other and while training one, we might as well train two, right?). However, now we think that we will put it off until the spring to let Pepper continue being an "only dog" for a little while and perhaps to gain some more confidence as "the" dog of the house.

Again, thank you for your many kind wishes, condolences, and prayers. I am truly touched.

Jesus in My Mind's Eye

The following story is true.

And I just want you to see how much I trust y'all to even go public with it!

For the last few weeks I've been changing up my prayer habits. Trying to get more in touch while avoiding distractions, I've been taking 20 minute walks each morning. Out in the early morning light with nature all around it is easier to keep my mind on connecting with God. Notice that I said, "easier" not "easy." My mind can provide all the distractions to mess up 20 minutes without being in the house as I have found out.

Some of the time I will say the rosary but this is preceded by my attempts to get into a more personal relationship with Jesus. I will imagine that he's walking beside me and then, somehow, it is easier to just simply tell him what is bothering me, what I hope for, and then to try to listen.

That all backfired in a way last week. It was the first true cold snap of the season. I was wearing sweat pants and a jacket. In my mind's eye, Jesus strolled alongside. I was thinking over how my image of Jesus matched all those traditional pictures of the long dark hair and beard, the brown robe. Shaking my head, thinking, "well, at least I realize I'm doing it."

Suddenly, I was completely caught off guard when "mind's eye Jesus" took the initiative.

"I suppose I have you to thank for this?" he said, laying a hand on the collar of a white t-shirt showing under the neck of his robe. "Keeping me warm?"

I snickered. I hadn't seen that in my "mind's eye" but was colder than I'd think a robe could handle.

"And these," he continued, sticking out a sandal shod foot from beneath the robe. Uncharacteristically, the sandal was on over a white tube sock, "are so my feet don't get cold?"

I couldn't help it. I howled with laughter. So glad that none of the other early walkers were around at that moment.

Ok, so maybe not so much time should be spent on the visualization as on the communication.

On the other hand, those are true moments of connection even if it isn't what I would have thought of communicating about!

Worth a Thousand Words

... Huebscher Laden ...
Originally uploaded by Juergen Kurlvink and found in Flickr's Door Pool.

"There. Now you can breathe."

Spoken in a low, gentle tone, with her hand resting on Daffy's side, those kind words came from Dr. Dixon who put our boxer to sleep.

Daffy had cancer and, as one of the vet techs told me, was "a miracle dog." Not only at her advanced age had she survived a spleenectomy for about two and a half months, but she was putting up a dogged fight against the cancer the necessitated the operation in the first place. We always knew she was spirited and lively and the "alpha" dog in our household, but not that she had such sheer determination.

For the last few days I fed her banana bread by hand, just thanking my lucky stars that I had uncharacteristically made three loaves of it last weekend. We kept waiting for her to have a day that didn't have those bright spots of her wanting to go get the paper with Tom or barking at the mailman (and everyone with the temerity to walk on "our" sidewalk) or the many other little things that put the fun and purpose into a dog's day.

Finally, the tumors spread to her lungs and it took most of her strength to breathe. I took her to the vet on Saturday and sat on the floor with her head in my lap. Lying down made it hardest to breathe but she didn't have the strength to sit up for very long, so on the floor we were. Of course, I was crying. (I made it to the car before breaking down into whole-hearted sobbing.)

Watching her struggle for breath suddenly cease and hearing those gentle words from the vet ... that stuck with me all day. I would recall those words and suddenly miss Daffy and cry while simultaneously being glad that she wasn't struggling to breathe any more.

Tom had taken his mother to a reunion near Houston so I was alone all day. That was fine. I did my errands, albeit sometimes with reddened eyes which clerks kindly saw and ignored. I wandered the house, doing laundry, making spaghetti sauce.

As I was walking through the living room, suddenly thinking again of Daffy and mentally telling her, "I miss you" something startling happened. I am just going to tell you and then you can think whatever you want about it. All I can tell you is that I was astonished.

Like a bullet or a speeding boxer, into my mind simply and without emotion shot the thought, "i'm happy, mom."

Now it is those words that come to my mind. They make me cry some, but I am happy too.