Know Thyself

If we don't take a good, honest look at ourselves we can never move away from what keeps us from God or toward doing His will.

... it is vitally important to acknowledge and name our sins. This is not simply a morbid exercise designed to make us feel bad about ourselves; it is, rather, an honest attempt to identify those parts of our lives that need improvement. No one can grow in any way, be it as an athlete or intellectually or spiritually, unless he or she becomes aware of mistakes and wrongdoings. So the purpose here is to become more deeply aware of our guilt and the negative effect it has on our relationship to God and on our ability to become good people. ...our prayer (paradoxically) is that we might feel the pain of our sins. This is not an end in itself, but, rather, a means to the greater end of resolving to avoid our sins in the future. If we wish to avoid mistakes, we must begin with the resolve that they are truly serious, and this resolve must be on both an intellectual and an emotional level. In short, we want to develop a repugnance for sin and a love for doing the will of God. ...

The Ignatian Workout: Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

John Rhys-Davies ... My Hero

From a Jeffrey Overstreet interview during a Lord of the Rings publicity tour.

Jeffrey to JRD:
How much of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Catholic beliefs and perspective resonate with you?

John Rhys-Davies:I’m burying my career so substantially in these interviews that it’s painful. But I think that there are some questions that demand honest answers.

I think that Tolkien says that some generations will be challenged. And if they do not rise to meet that challenge, they will lose their civilization. That does have a real resonance with me.

I have had the ideal background for being an actor. I have always been an outsider. I grew up in colonial Africa. And I remember in 1955, it would have to be somewhere between July the 25th when the school holiday started and September the 18th when the holidays ended. My father took me down to the quayside in Dar-Es-Salaam harbor. And he pointed out a dhow in the harbor and he said, “You see that dhow there? Twice a year it comes down from Aden. It stops here and goes down [South]. On the way down it's got boxes of machinery and goods. On the way back up it’s got two or three little black boys on it. Now, those boys are slaves. And the United Nations will not let me do anything about it.”

The conversation went on. “Look, boy. There is not going to be a World War between Russia and the United. The next World War will be between Islam and the West.”

This is 1955! I said to him, “Dad, you’re nuts! The Crusades have been over for hundreds of years!”

And he said, “Well, I know, but militant Islam is on the rise again. And you will see it in your lifetime.”

He’s been dead some years now. But there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him and think, “God, I wish you were here, just so I could tell you that you were right.”

What is unconscionable is that too many of your fellow journalists do not understand how precarious Western civilization is and what a jewel it is.

How did we get the sort of real democracy, how did we get the level of tolerance that allows me to propound something that may be completely alien to you around this table, and yet you will take it and you will think about it and you’ll say no you’re wrong because of this and this and this. And I’ll listen and I’ll say, “Well, actually, maybe I am wrong because of this and this.”

[He points at a female reporter and adopts an authoritarian voice, to play a militant-Islam character:] ‘You should not be in this room. Because your husband or your father is not hear to guide you. You could only be here in this room with these strange men for immoral purposes.’

I mean… the abolition of slavery comes from Western democracy. True Democracy comes form our Greco-Judeo-Christian-Western experience. If we lose these things, then this is a catastrophe for the world.

And there is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe that nobody wants to talk about, that we daren’t bring up because we are so cagey about not offending people racially. And rightly we should be. But there is a cultural thing as well.

By 2020, 50% of the children in Holland under the age of 18 will be of Muslim descent. You look and see what your founding fathers thought of the Dutch. They are constantly looking at the rise of democracy and Dutch values as being the very foundation of American Democracy. If by the mid-century the bulk of Holland is Muslim—and don’t forget, coupled with this there is this collapse of numbers ... Western Europeans are not having any babies. The population of Germany at the end of the century is going to be 56% of what it is now. The populations of France, 52% of what it is now. The population of Italy is going to be down 7 million people. There is a change happening in the very complexion of Western civilization in Europe that we should think about at least and argue about. If it just means the replacement of one genetic stock with another genetic stock, that doesn’t matter too much. But if it involves the replacement of Western civilization with a different civilization with different cultural values, then it is something we really ought to discuss—because, g**dammit, I am for dead white male culture.

You do realize in this town what I’ve been saying [is like] blasphemy…

…but we’ve got to get a bit serious. By and large our cultures and our society are resilient enough to put up with any sort of nonsense. But if Tolkien’s got a message, it’s that “Sometimes you’ve got to stand up and fight for what you believe in.” He knew what he was fighting for in WW1.

[With that, he departed our appreciative and applauding table, saying:] Try and put verbs in my sentences.

Romantic ABCs

I have been meaning to post this for some time. Yes it's corny but often the best things in life are simply because they are so obvious that they have become cliche. That doesn't make them any less wonderful when your spouse springs one on you.

Also, this has been much on my mind because we are having a meeting tonight with interested couples who attended our first marriage retreat. We will be discerning which roles we will undertake in presenting the retreat all on our own (hopefully, if all roles are filled) with no outside help. A big part of what we discovered on our own retreat was the need to be more romantic.

So without further ado ...

Always kiss each other hello and goodbye. Be there for each other -- always. Create an environment of love. Do it. Escape from the kids. Fight fair. Give of your time. Handle with care. Inspire your partner with love. Judge not. Keep your good memories alive. Listen to her. Make love with your partner's needs foremost. Never go to bed angry. Offer to handle an unpleasant chore. Praise him. Quality time isn't just for the kids. Respect her feelings. Say what you feel when you feel it. Tell her you love her every day. Every day. Understand your differences. Valentine's Day is every day. Walk together; talk together. EXcite your partner as only you know how. You can never say "I love you" too often. Zero-in on his little passions.

Choose a letter. Follow the corresponding piece of advice this week. Choose a different letter next week.

1001 Ways to Be Romantic

Achieving Perfection

Aaargh! Can we do that? Even the saints have their faults (the oft-mentioned St. Jerome's crabbiness comes to mind instantly). However, this excerpt can give us a better focus on just what achieving perfection means.

[Jesus said,] "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt 5:48)

To praise, reverence, and serve God is to achieve our perfection as human beings. Jesus' command is difficult, though: no one is perfect. And so immediately we must recognize that Jesus is not calling us to some antiseptic kind of life, in which we are afraid to do anything by our very humanness, we are capable of being loved by God and thus capable of loving as God loves. The quote above about being perfect comes after Jesus' command to love our enemies, suggesting that our perfection lies precisely in our ability to mirror the kind of love that God has for all of us.

There is nothing we must do in order to be loved by God. There is nothing we must achieve, nothing we must change, nothing we must seek before God loves us; it is already an accomplished fact because God created us in order to love us. Our perfection is simply our desire to respond to this already accomplished fact, to make our lives great because we are capable of it.

The Ignatian Workout: Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Created for God's Own Delight

God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them ... And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. (Gn 1:27-31)

... our truest, deepest selves were created by God simply for God's own delight in creating us. Each human being is a unique work of art; God throws away the mold after making each one of us. What this suggests, then, is that our lives have unique ways of praising, reverencing, and serving God -- even when we are unaware that we are doing it. I marvel at the array of talents and lifestyles out there, especially those that are completely foreign to me because they remind me how varied are the ways that people can praise God. Some people praise God through their friendships; others through their art; others through their perseverance; others through their work. In short, when we are most ourselves, doing what we are capable of doing, we are praising God.

The Ignatian Workout: Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith

When I read this I was suddenly seized with the idea that some of our most prominent characteristics, perhaps those which provide us with the most embarrassment (say, for example, extreme enthusiasm ... just to mention what could possibly apply to ... ahem ... me) actually might be the very things that God specially built in. That he might ... delight in someone showing all that enthusiasm. Not that I'm embarrassed (exactly) of being enthusiastic but it can lead to all sorts of awkward situations and does bring knowing glances from those who can recognize me in the throes of a new passion for something. Certainly, it has led me many times to rush forward where angels fear to tread.

But the idea that God is enjoying it, that if it is used to serve Him, in whatever way ... that was eye opening. And welcome.

If this is a new idea, you might want to take a few minutes to consider what He is delighting in that you haven't properly appreciated as a God-given trait or talent. It is truly enlightening.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Another Saint for August 15: St. Alipius

I just finished reading a really fantastic book about saint, Saints Behaving Badly: The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil-Worshippers Who Became Saints by Thomas J. Craughwell. A full review will come later but I thought that I'd share a few excerpts (imagine that!) before then.

I never knew that St. Augustine had a very close friend, Alipius, who was so addicted to blood sports (gladiatorial combat to the death) that it was all consuming. Alipius was so addicted that when his friends tired of attending, he would go and lure new innocents to attend with him. It's an odd thing that Alipius was such a good friend of Augustine's that he followed him to Milan and Carthage, became a Manichean along with him ... but none of Augustine's entreaties could sway him from his addiction. Here is where my admiration for St. Ambrose, already great because of his influence converting Augustine, becomes even greater. I can't imagine what an unbelievable speaker he must have been. As Craughwell tells us:

Drawn by Ambrose' reputation for eloquence, Augustine began attending the bishop's masses. And where Augustine went, Alipius followed. Ambrose's sermons fell on fertile ground. After a period of private instruction with the bishop, Augustine and Alipius -- along with Augustine's illegitimate son Adeodatus -- were baptized by St. Ambrose on the night of the Easter Vigil, 387.

When Alipius renounced the Manichean heresy for the Catholic faith, he also gave up the amphitheater. Strengthened by the grace of the sacraments, he never went to the gladiatorial games again.

Baptism seems to have drawn Alipius and Augustine even closer, with careers that followed identical paths. They both entered the priesthood and returned home to North Africa, where Augustine was named bishop of Hippo and Alipius bishop of their hometown, Thagaste. ...

Did you see who else was baptized along with Alipius and Augustine? Augustine's son ... and I may have read that before but certainly didn't remember it at all.

I like thinking of St. Augustine having such a good friend for his whole life. Certainly, I think that Alipius deserves to be better known. His fight against his obsessive nature (you'll have to read the book to see just how hard he fought and lost) is one that lends his intercession to many of us these days.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

When Zombies Attack ...

... will you know what to do?

How about if you're stuck in traffic when alien robots begin attacking your city?

Or if you've become a camp counselor ... at Crystal Lake!

I didn't think so.

Thank goodness for the Geek Survival Guide. Why without this invaluable podcast I'd never have thought of putting batteries in my sock to make a Flail (-2).

(If none of this makes sense, then thank your lucky stars. You are not a geek. Sadly, I was laughing so hard that I almost rolled off the couch.)

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Read Me a Story ...

... over at Spero News. I wrote a post about sources of free audiobooks before but this article is expanded and clarified (hopefully!).

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Entering Into God's Presence

... God’s love is constant. It is always fresh and new. It is exhilarating not only because of the way it makes us feel but because of the new horizons it opens in our lives—the way it explains who we really are and why we’re here in the first place. Everything else melts away, and we are caught up in an experience that words alone cannot describe, an experience that changes us from the inside out.

How to Enter into God’s Presence. As awesome and intimidating as this may seem, it’s really not all that difficult to enter into the presence of the Lord and experience his love. On the contrary, Jesus longs for us come to him. He actually enjoys being with us and delights in pouring his love upon us—even more than we long to receive it! Whatever roadblocks exist are generally related to our own sin, our own lack of repentance, or our own complacency.

Of course, it is possible to experience God’s presence without putting in any effort at all. After all, that’s what happened to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:4). But it is far more common to be touched by God when we are in prayer. That’s what happened to Isaiah (Isaiah 1:1-6), to Zechariah (Luke 1:8-11), and to Peter, James, and John (9:28-29). So let’s take a closer look at prayer and ask how we can become more open to God’s touch in our lives.

Passionately seek him. Because of the demands of everyday life, it can be very easy for our faith to become too regimented. Like the Colossians, we can fall into legalisms and lose sight of faith’s primary goal: to ground us in a loving experience of Jesus. If you feel that your prayer has become somewhat mechanical or dry, go before the Lord and say, “Jesus, I want to know you. Come shower me with your love. Transform my life into whatever you desire. I am yours.” The truth is, we all need to cry out to the Lord like this every day—throughout our days, but especially when we are in prayer.

Word Among Us

I have been returning more and more to that spot in my own life. Thanks to the on-line retreat making me more aware of God in the everyday, all around me, I have rediscovered that longing to know Jesus better. Yes, I already knew it and, yes, it is a no-brainer ... but "knowing" and "living" are two different things. It is all too easy to become lukewarm, for me anyway, and it is exciting to be pulled out of it back into a more familiar communion with my best and truest friend who wants nothing but my own good.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Soy? No Way ...

... half and half or nothing.

Oh. Wait.

That's being dogmatic and picky isn't it?

You Are a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn't cutting it Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Via a good slug of black coffee a.k.a. Georgette.

Some Good Weekend Reading

The Jelly Pinched Wolf has some interesting posts up about Mel Gibson and The Crucible, The Grapes of Wrath (finally someone says what I've always thought about that darned book), and the various critiques of Cars.

I'd have linked to him sooner but kept forgetting to drop by since I'm really hooked into Bloglines for saving story links for later ... if he'd just turn on his RSS feed I'd have a better chance of keeping up. However you get there though it is well worth reading. Check it out.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Take Some Creativity, Music, Eight Treadmills ...

and turn the sound up!

If the above doesn't come through for some reason, here's a link to the original.

Canticle of Brother Sun

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no man is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most high One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven
You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather
through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for
Your love
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.

-- Francis of Assisi

34 Week Online Retreat, Week 3

No one says it better, except possibly that wonderful song of praise in Daniel, and there is no better way to launch into appreciating what God has created for our delight than reading this canticle. I know that it makes me look with new eyes on nature every time I step outside.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Panning for Gold

This will be a helpful image, throughout our retreat. Imagine a stream, with water rushing by all the time - a pretty good image of our busy lives. Imagine putting my pan - a sieve or screen - into the water. What happens? I get a pan full of stuff. As I shake it a bit, some of the smaller debris falls through the screen and I can look at larger stones that were in the water. And there in my pan, I discover a piece of gold. The message: I won't get that piece of treasure, just sitting by the edge of the stream peering into the water. I have to pan for it - sort out some portion of my experience and go deeper into it. And remember, if I discover some kernel of gold, it would be very important to weigh it - write it down and perhaps share the grace with others...

34 Week Online Retreat, Week 2

I found this such an apt image that it has stuck in my mind since last week. I also needed that reminder that we must be involved and active in the process, not just sit on the side of the shore watching everything rush by.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Tell Me Again

Tell me the story again, Grandfather.
Tell me who I am.

I have told you many times, Boy.
You know the story by heart.

But it sounds better
when you tell it, Grandfather.

Then listen carefully.
This may be the last telling.

No, no, Grandfather.
There will never be a last time.
Promise me that.
Promise me.

I promise you nothing, Boy.
I love you.
That is better than a promise.

And I love you, Grandfather,
but tell me the story again.
Please.

Knots on a Counting Rope
Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Henry Holt and Company
New York, 1966 and 1987

From week one of the 34-Week Online Retreat where, in true Ignatian form, we begin our spiritual autobiography.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

It's a Christian Thing

I got an email from a Protestant friend yesterday, asking if a book I mentioned, The Ignatian Workout: Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith, was something that anyone would benefit from or if it was just a Catholic thing.

Of course, there are Catholic elements to anything that has the word "Ignatian" in it because St. Ignatius was .. well ... Catholic.

On the other hand, so far, this is really something that any Christian can benefit from in terms of opening up their eyes to techniques of using our imaginations to be aware of and converse with God. The author's main focus is on comparing Ignatian prayer techniques with the mindset of athletes and coaches as they attempt to achieve important goals in their chosen fields. Surprisingly, even though I am far from athletic, it is a mindset that anyone can relate to and is quite helpful in motivation for prayer.

That also goes for the Pray-As-You-Go prayer podcast and the 34-week On-line Retreat that I am doing. They also are based in Ignatian teachings but I haven't noticed any particular emphasis that would be specific to Catholics. I haven't been listening with a "critical" ear to catch any Catholic references but believe me when I say that it is focused primarily on each soul and their connection with God, rather than anything to do with a specific Catholic orientation.

I would strongly encourage anyone who is interested, not only Catholics, to check out these resources. I may begin sharing bits of the various weeks' readings from the online retreat when they hit me just right.

With that in mind, I also must say that I have benefited greatly in the last week from a podcast called Into The Deep. It is a conversation between three Catholic men about various methods of growing closer to God. In their own words:

Into The Deep is a podcast designed to be a resource to those who wish to spread the saving message of Jesus Christ as faithfully transmitted by the Church. This means that it is applicable to every Baptized Christian, as we all share a common commission to evangelize the world.

I have listened only to the sections on Detachment, Methods of Prayer and Obstacles to Prayer but have found them immensely helpful and easy to listen to (and, yes, sometimes they make me laugh ... and that doesn't hurt either). As these three men are Catholics there are various mentions of such things as the rosary but overall the parts I listened to would again help any Christian desirous of strengthening their prayer life.

For those who are either curious about or critical of such Catholic things as the rosary and saints, I would highly recommend Lure of the Saints: A Protestant Experience of Catholic Tradition" by Jon M. Sweeney, which I reviewed for Spero News. I thought it was a brilliant explanation of how many of these "Catholics-only" practices have a much broader application for all Christians. It also has an eye-opening description of the basic difference between how Protestants and Catholics see the big picture ... a good friend who converted to Catholicism says it is the best description that she has ever read for the difference between her former Lutheran mindset and her current Catholic one.

The Protestant imagination focuses on the gulf that separates us from God, while the Catholic view is of the sacramental nature of all that is around us. It is no wonder that while Protestant spirituality focuses on the Word of God (preaching it, hearing it, applying it) in order to repair the separation that divides us from God, Catholic spirituality focuses on finding, lifting, and releasing the Spirit of God that is sometimes hidden or latent in the world around us. This is the world as sacrament, the world incarnated...

Where the Protestant approach to the Spirit is to analyze its meaning, the Catholic approach to the Spirit is to imagine its depths. Where the Protestant mind stops and pulls the strands apart, the Catholic mind makes further connections and intertwines the strands...

The Ignatian technique is all about intertwining the strands and making the connections. I hope that if this idea appeals to you that it will merit further investigations no matter what your Christian orientation.

UPDATE
A note from the author of The Ignatian Workout tells a bit more about the not specifically Catholic nature of the book:

I've seen mentions of the book on Episcopalian and Mennonite websites-- the former offering the book as recommended reading on their website, the latter using it for a youth group retreat. So no, it's not just a Catholic thing!

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Back to Basics: Communion of Saints

It isn't just talking about saints in heaven but the entire Church.

... The term communion of saints is rich in meaning. It refers to the fellowship or community that exists between all the members of the Church. Three levels are traditionally identified.

• The Church Triumphant: Saints in heaven
• The Church Militant: Believers on earth
• The Church Suffering: Souls in purgatory

Catholicism believes that death can't sever the ties that bind the members of the Church, because the soul is immortal and only the body can die. So Catholics believe that the ties and connections that link them together in life continue in death. The beloved dead are still connected to the living and still love the living as much as they love the dead. Even though the body is dead, the immortal soul is very much still alive and in existence.

Saints in heaven: The Catholic Church believes that the saints are ordinary and typical human beings -- with faults and failures, talents and gifts, vices and virtues -- who made it into heaven not by being perfect but by persevering.

Believers on earth: The third tier of the communion of saints is the Church Militant, the believers on earth... The term militant refers to a spiritual warfare against sin and the devil. Catholics believe that their fellow man is their ally, not their enemy. The devil and sin are the real enemies... The spiritual battle is for souls -- to rescue them from sin and evil.

Souls in purgatory: Purgatory is an often-misunderstood Catholic doctrine. It isn't considered a spiritual jail or hell with parole. And Catholicism doesn't teach that everyone goes tot purgatory. On the contrary, the Church believes that many people are purified or purged, hence the term purgatory, in this life. For example, the Church believes that many innocent persons who suffer from disease, poverty, or persecution are living their purgatory now, and when they die, they probably go straight to heaven. The same goes for people who live an exceptionally good and holy life -- no need for purgatory. But the Church believes that most everyone else, although not bad enough to go to hell, aren't good enough to skate into heaven with no need for some introspection and purification... Known as the Church Suffering the souls in purgatory are definitely and absolutely going to heaven, not just yet...

According to the Church, purgatory is like a suburb of heaven. It's close enough to hear the laughter and singing, smell the sweetness in the air, and feel the warmth nearby, but far enough away to remind everyone that they haven't yet arrived.

Or, as some people would like to think of it, it's like being stuck in traffic on the day before Thanksgiving. You know for certain that you're on your way home, but you just don't know when.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

This is too brief a discussion of a teaching like Purgatory. For a little more reading, here is a post I put together a while back.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

What's Up with Us

All kinds of anticipatory things going on round here ...

• Rose starts school on the 15th. That sent her into overdrive finishing the book she had assigned herself for summer reading: Crime and Punishment. She loved it. "Wow, what a great book. You'd hate it, Mom, so depressing until the very last page ... but so good." Now she is plodding through her summer homework. I still think it's wrong to assign work over the summer.


• Hannah is off to Fish Camp this morning. That took us most of the weekend to accomplish. (Fish Camp: a four day A&M freshman camp for learning traditions and making new friends. Higly recommended by one and all.) She left this morning, driving with a friend, at 4:45 (yes 4:45, which meant we were up at 4:00!). Thinking about Fish Camp sent her into a spiral of hard reality about being separated from boyfriend for the school year ... which was not helped by a discussion with boyfriend during which he thought that maybe they should break up but then left it in the air until "after Fish Camp." Thanks so much, boyfriend. There's nothing like dealing with that fallout especially when Hannah's already freaking about leaving home in general. So that took most of my extra time and energy this weekend.


• Beyond Cana (marriage enrichment retreat) ... any couples who attended the retreat are welcome to be part of the ongoing retreat teams, whether on a support or core team. Since we have three couples who are getting it started in our parish, more are essential to being able to pull this off, especially when considering that two of the couples have small children. A gratifying number of them liked it so much that they want to help bring it to others. We're pumped about it! There was a party on Saturday for everyone to get together and just hang out. These people have some of the most adorable little ones I've ever seen.


• Knitting ... I really am hating knitting with the Lion Brand self striping yarn but am only halfway through one sock and Rose loves the colors so ... must ... push ... through. Luckily I am loving the Plymouth yarn I am using for the afghan so that makes a nice break. What I really have my eye on for a pair of socks is Bunny Hop ... there is just something so soft sounding about this angora blend yarn. I'd like to make these socks with it.


• I'm beginning Week 3 of the 34-week On-line Retreat along with a couple of friends. So far it is really going well. Working hand-in-hand with this is the fact that I'm also reading The Ignatian Workout: Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith and using the Pray-As-You-Go prayer podcast. As both are based in Ignatian spirituality, it is all working together to make this a very fruitful beginning.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Friendship

Blue must have had many friends. No man as generous of himself as he could have been long without them. Yet, he seems to have had few intimates. Friendship was one of life's fine things to him, and yet he did not look upon it altogether as the rest of us do. Sometimes, I think, he was a friend out of charity. Once, I gathered from his conversation, he had been mistaken in a friend. But he looked back on the treachery of the man he loved more with kindness than with pity, and more with pity than with grief. "Friendship, at worst," he once said to me, "is an investment. Your friend, no matter how he may turn out in the end, is an addition to your life. He brings some things, and whatever his disloyalty, these things he cannot take away."

Mr. Blue

What a Groaner!

Stay to read the post but go for the headline ... from one of the best punsters I know.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity