The Cheerful Struggle

When I think about keeping going in that interior, daily struggle, it is really funny (and amazing) how often the Galaxy Quest motto goes through my head ... "Never give up. Never surrender." It's funny because it's true.

The Christian's daily struggle will generally be specific and will entail fighting on very minor matters. Fortitude will be necessary in order to fulfill with sincere effort our acts of piety towards God, without abandoning them no matter what presents itself during the course of the day, and so as not to let ourselves be carried away by our state of mind at the time. The way we live charity, overcoming sudden ill-temper, making an effort to be warm, good-natured and considerate towards others -- these will be important, as will our efforts to finish off the work we have offered to God, without skimping or taking any shortcuts, doing it as well as we possibly can and using the means to receive the formation we need...

There will be moments of victory and defeat, of falling and of rising again. We must always begin again ...; it is what God asks of all of us. The struggle demands a love that is vigilant and an effective desire to seek God throughout the day. This cheerful struggle is the exact opposite of lukewarmness, which is characterized by carelessness, a lack of interest in seeking God, laziness and sadness in fulfilling our obligations towards God and other people.

In Conversation With God Vol 4

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

What You Need to Know About the War in the Middle East

American Papist has put together a wonderful set of resources. I haven't said much about this because quite frankly I'm not very well informed, so I especially welcome this set of links.

However, I will add these links to Middle East bloggers that I read regularly. Keep an eye on them for commentary as well. If nothing else it gives an interesting insight to more than one side of the conflict.

• Perpetual Refugee who is in Lebanon.
• Sand Gets in My Eyes in Saudi Arabia.
• Middle East Journal, a reporter who has been all over the place.
• On the Face who is in Israel.

Updates

• Against the Grain has some additional news and commentary to add to the links given us by American Papist.
• Spero News has had very good coverage throughout.
  
• GOP Soccer Mom has been waiting for people to remember their history about what people were offered opportunities that they short-sightedly turned down.
• Sand Gets in My Eyes points out an unexpected though welcome reaction from the Saudis.

  In making the statement, King Abdullah clearly condemns Hezbollah for their actions and lays the responsibility for making things right firmly on their heads.
  
  “It’s your mess,” he tells them. “Clean it up.”
  
  Instead of spewing Arab hatred at Israel and questioning the measure of their response, the King publicly reprimands Iranian-backed Hezbollah calling them irresponsible and unaccountable...
  
  And King Abdullah isn’t the only Saudi official speaking out...

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Photo of the Week

Via American Papist

I Guess I Misjudged How Much Animals Love Me

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"Nice doggy."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

Via Minivan Mom who shows a certain recklessness that seems about right.

It's Pretty Clear That We Need More Pirates

Since I'm all about saving the environment and everything. Via Listen 2 Your Uncle Jay who I found thanks to March Hare (who you all should be reading!).

The Interior Struggle and Failure

It is really true that how we treat failure in our lives is just as important as how we treat success.

In the interior struggle we will also meet with failures. Many such failures will be unimportant; other will be more serious, but our atonement and our contrition will bring us even closer to God. And if ever we smash into small pieces what we felt was most precious in our life, God will be able to mend that very thing if we are humble. He always forgives us and helps us when we turn to him with a contrite heart. We must learn to begin again many times; with new joy, with new humility, for even if we have caused serious offence to God and have done much harm to other people, we can still later come very close to God in this life and be happy with him in the next, as long as there is true repentance, as long as we make room in our lives for penance, humility, sincerity and repentance -- and begin again.

God allows for our weakness and always forgives us, but we need to be sincere, to repent and to struggle to rise up again. There is incomparable joy in heaven each time we begin again. Throughout our journey on earth we will have to do so many times, because there will always be faults, shortcomings, weaknesses and sins for us to recover from. May we never lack the straightforwardness to acknowledge this and to open our souls to Our Lord in the Tabernacle and in spiritual direction.

In Conversation With God Vol 4

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Powerful Stuff

Rosalind Moss's talk, "Mary, Our Jewish Mother" which can be found on iTunes under Ave Maria University Presents. Not just about Mary but also about her conversion when she accepted that Jesus was the Messiah. Here's the link to their website.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

What Happened Here?

In Mountain Meadows, Utah on September 7, 1857.

Aaargh! Apologies to all ... I mistyped and got the date wrong. Based on the comments so far I think that my brother and Rick Lugari are clued in on this incident.

Answer (in invisi-type)
The Fancher party, comprising more than 120 emigrants from Arkansas headed to California by wagon train, was attacked by a party variously described as Paiute Indians acting at the behest of Mormons, or Mormons disguised as Indians, or a combination of Mormons and Indians. The emigrants were besieged for five days; then a group of Mormons promised to lead them to safety. Instead, on September 11, they shot all but seventeen of the emigrants point-blank in what is now called the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The seventeen survivors, all children under five, were distributed among Mormon families. All but one were later recovered by a federal agent.

To Persecute the Church is to Persecute Jesus

I never thought about it this way ... about how it applies to us today.

Those people who claim to approach Christ whilst leaving his Church to one side, and even causing her harm, may one day get the same surprise as Saint Paul did when he was on his way to Damascus: I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:5) And, the Venerable Bede reflects that He does not say "why are you persecuting my members, but why are you persecuting me?" For He is still affronted in his Body, which is the Church. Paul did not know until that moment that to persecute the Church was to persecute Jesus himself. When he speaks about the Church later on, he does so in words that describe her as the Body of Christ; (1 Cor 12:27) and he describes the faithful as members of Christ's Body. (1 Cor 2:27) It is not possible to love, follow or listen to Christ, without loving, following, or listening to the Church, because she is the presence, at once sacramental and mysterious, of Our Lord, who prolongs his saving mission in the world to the very end of time.

In Conversation With God Vol 4

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Where'd That Word Come From: Armadillo

This peculiar animal -- noted for its distinctive armored appearance -- gets its name from the diminutive form of the Spanish word armado, which means "armed man." The root word is the Latin verb armare, meaning "to arm."

The Word Origin Calendar

Quickest Movie Reviews Ever

DIE HARD
I waited too long to see this and the genre has passed it by. It is sadly dated. I watched for 45 minutes to give it a fair chance, also since I like Alan Rickman and Bruce Willis ... *yawn*. Predictable. The clever lines ... weren't. Next!

JACKIE BROWN
Lauded by critics everywhere. Written and directed by Quinten Tarentino whose movies I'd never seen. Also, it was based on an Elmore Leonard novel, which worked marvelously well for Get Shorty and Out of Sight. Here's more proof (beyond X3) that the director can kill a good premise in a movie. That's another two hours of my life I'll never get back. Too long, story told in an extremely uninteresting way and a complete waste of top notch acting talent.

Update on My Friend Cynthia

Just got this news from someone who saw her this morning.

She has been moved from the ICU to a regular hospital room (#822). They had just gone through a physical therapy session, with Cynthia walking for the first time (with assistance). Her right side is still only at about 70%, which is a great deal better than the 0% of a few days ago. Her angiogram indicates that the blood vessel sealed itself, so surgery may not be necessary. However, a great deal of rehab will be required.

Praise God and keep those prayers coming!

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Second Verse, Same as the First

The socks are done!
Hannah put them on as soon as the last one came off my needles and
I had a difficult time getting her to take them off for this photo. Quite satisfying!

Next up, a pair for Rose using Magic Stripes yarn.

Also, I'm beginning a feather and fan patterned afghan for Hannah to take to school. I'm realistic ... just hoping to get it done before she graduates! I am using Plymouth Encore Worsted because you've gotta be able to throw this in the washer and dryer. She chose Soft Rose for the main color and Cranberry for the contrasting color.

The Whole Scoop on the Holy Grail

Grail Code by Michael Aquilina and Christopher Bailey

I have written about this book fairly frequently so y'all know that I like and recommend it. Upon finishing it, I think that the thing that stands out the most is just how much our age misunderstands the grail story in its entirety, misled by story tellers of long ago who misinterpreted it to suit their times (almost Da Vinci Code style one might say). If you are at all interested in refuting the Da Vinci Code or in the stories of King Arthur and the Holy Grail then you owe it to yourself to get the whole story.

By the way, speaking of the Holy Grail which Valencia has some longstanding claims for, check this out.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Prayer Request for My Friend Cynthia

I was greatly shocked by the news that my friend Cynthia Vasquez is in ICU suffering from an aneurysm. She's a vibrant 30 year old who is loving and giving ... I also have worked with her as a client where she was a dream to work with.

Please pray for her recovery and for her family.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Knit Bit

"Knitting for Britain" was something of an escape from more serious work at a British boarding school during World War II. I suppose therapeutic, perhaps, at a time when life was so tangled. But no one ever thought it odd that a school of 200 boys should be busily whiling away the hours in such an activity as knitting.

"When Knitting Was a Manly Art" by Clinton Trowbridge
from the Christian Science Monitor, December 5, 1997

Get Your Thinking Caps On

From the Mensa Puzzler Calendar.

Find the word that best completes the following sequence.

NINE EIGHT TEN NINETEEN

a) SEVEN
b) TWENTY
c) NINETY

Did I get this? Pfft! No!

ANSWER
Mark Mossa emailed me the answer about 30 seconds after I posted this so I'll go ahead and put it up now...

c) NINETY (each word starts with the last letter of the preceding word).

On Loving Our Enemies

Copying this into my quote journal tonight, I thought of the uproar caused some time ago about a blogger who admitted that she had deliberately passed by a mother and small children whose car was broken down because at the last minute she saw a political sticker she didn't agree with (either Vote Republican or something in support of George Bush ... I can't remember and that isn't the point anyway). Later, I am so happy to say that the blogger repented although many of her commenters were much less praiseworthy in their wholehearted approval of her initial actions.

Then I thought of this post that I read today at The Anchoress. I confess that I didn't go read the original linked commentary because what The Anchoress said made it very clear that this woman was so enraged that she was almost not recognizable as a human through her hatred. I didn't want to read it in the original. I didn't want to sully my mind with words I probably wouldn't be able to forget. Honestly, I felt real pity for that woman who was letting her emotions control her actions so. I am going to pray for her. (You know that prayer by now, right? "Lord have mercy on me and bless her...)

I was going to post this next week but thought that maybe now was a better time. It is a longer version of one of my favorite quotes from one of my very favorite saints ... Augustine ... seems all too appropriate to the situation of the woman who said that her enemy and his child were "no longer human."

Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Commentary on the 1st Letter of John, 8,10

"It is mercy I desire"

In loving your enemy, you want him to be your brother. You do not love in him what he is, but what you want him to be. Let us imagine some oak wood that has not been carved. A capable craftsman sees this wood that has been cut in the forest; he likes the wood. I do not know what he wants to make out of it, but the artist does not love this wood so that it might remain as it is. His art lets him see what the wood can become. He does not love the rough wood; he loves what he will make of it, not the rough wood.

That is how God loved us when we were sinners. For he said: "People who are in good health do not need a doctor; sick people do." Did he love us sinners so that we might remain sinners? The craftsman saw us like a piece of rough wood coming from the forest, and what he had in mind was the work he would draw from there, not the wood from the forest.

It is the same with you: you see your enemy who opposes you, who overwhelms you with scathing words, who is harsh in his insults, who pursues you with his hatred. But you are attentive to the fact that he is a human being. You see everything that this person did against you, and you see in him that he was created by God. What he is as a human being is God's work; the hatred he bears towards you is his own work. And what do you say to yourself? "Lord, be kind to him, forgive his sins, inspire him with fear of you, change him." In this person, you do not love what he is, but what you want him to be. Thus, when you love your enemy, you love a brother.

Via DGO

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

My Itty Bitty Vacation

Tom and Rose are on the long awaited Father-Daughter trip (marking Rose's achievement of becoming 16). They are having a fabulous time in Chicago by all accounts. The art museum blew them away. They took more than 200 photos, talked to most of the guards by all accounts, and I can't tell you the number of times that Tom said, in awed tones, "World class, really world class!" The pizza crust at Uno's also blew them away (how did they get it so light and not bready but still substantial) while the sauce got lower grades. Today they are off for the boat architectural tour as well as other things not yet decided upon by last night.

Meanwhile, I am loafing. Just plain loafing. Begging off a meeting that was requested (which I never do), watching movies with Hannah (how could I have forgotten just how excellent All That Jazz is?), playing Shadows of Amnh for the umpteenth time (if anyone knows of a similar high quality D&D game that will play on the Mac cube puhleeze let me know!), knitting and listening to podcasts. Getting ready to take Hannah shopping for a few college essentials (doesn't everyone need a Hello Kitty body pillow for their dorm bed?). Reading fluff novels until midnight.

How does this differ from my regular routine you might ask? Well, I am not worrying about what to fix for dinner. Or sticking to any routine ... it probably is not all that different but let's just pretend shall we?

Gandhi, Spinning, and Sacrifice

I think of the poor of India every time that I draw a thread on the wheel. For a person suffering from the pangs of hunger, and desiring nothing but to fill his belly, his belly is his God. To him anyone who gives him bread is his master. Through him he many even see God. . . . Therefore I have described my spinning (a daily activity) as a penance or sacrament. And, since I believe that where there is pure and active love for the poor there is God also, I see God in every thread that I draw on the spinning wheel.

Mohandas Gandhi, Khadi, pages 110-111

Heather at CraftLit has a very interesting essay that I found quite thought provoking. She talks about 9/11 and how the only people who seem to be making sacrifices are the soldiers and their families. She is talking about the sort of sacrifices that the average citizen made during WWII and which we all have heard about whether from grandparents, books, or movies. This then segueways into a discussion of Gandhi and how he spun yarn for half an hour every day as a combination of solidarity, service, and penance for impoverished Indians.

You might ask how it is possible to find God through the spinning wheel. . . . One has to learn to efface self or the ego voluntarily and as a sacrifice in order to find God. The spinning wheel rules out exclusiveness. It stands for all, including the poorest. It, therefore, requires us to be humble and to cast away pride completely. When self is shed the change will be reflected in our outward behavior. . . . Everything we do will be undertaken not for little self but for all.

Mohandas Gandhi, Khadi, page 115

This essay was unusual for several reasons. First, CraftLit basically is a knitting podcast so when a knitter begins ranting I lose interest. It is inevitably about something like the fact that someone has called knitting a hobby or some such other thing that I feel is being way too touchy.

Second, as you can imagine the idea of performing a service as a penance and offering it for others perked up my ears because that entire concept is so Catholic. Then when I heard about the humbling effect of spinning for others I knew it was Catholic ... yes, expressed by someone who wasn't Christian, but it is one of those common splinters of truth that God spreads throughout the world. To hear it coming from Gandhi and then being pulled around and applied to us in the war on terror was fascinating. (And she's right, y'all.)

To find God one need not go out anywhere. He resides in our hearts. But if we install self or ego there we dethrone God. . . . Although He is the King of kings, Most High, Almighty, yet He is at the beck and call of anyone who has reduced himself to zero and turns to Him in uttermost humility of spirit. Let us then become poor in spirit and find Him within ourselves.

Mohandas Gandhi, Khadi, page 115

Third, it actually inspired me to go to the blog and read Heather's 9/11 story (which I strongly encourage y'all to do). She was right in the middle of 9/11, being a teacher at the time in a school that was in the shadow of the World Trade Center. It is a harrowing tale. I also read the piece linked to about Gandhi and spinning which was quite good.

If you download Episode 11 (which you can do on iTunes or from the CraftLit blog) just listen to the part where she gets on her "soapbox."

I do want to mention that this podcast would be good for anyone who is interested in literature. Although I have described it as a knitting podcast, it doesn't really have a lot of knitting content. There is a bit at the beginning and then the rest is given over to chapters of an audiobook. The idea is that it is something good to listen to while knitting (or washing the floor, folding laundry, driving, etc. ... which are also things we can offer to God ... though whether as prayer or penance depends on how much you might dislike those tasks!).

I find that one of the most enjoyable parts is listening to Heather's commentary on what happened in the last chapters and teasers about what is upcoming in the current episode. She is quite enthusiastic and that makes the book all the more enjoyable. Currently, she is presenting Pride and Prejudice but has been entertaining suggestions as to the next book which range from Tom Sawyer to Tristan and Iseult. If you are at all interested in such things, do go give it a try ... who knows when the next time is that Heather will break loose and give us a good, thought provoking rant? You don't want to miss that, do you? I didn't think so!

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity