tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44851639567845042152024-03-14T12:19:35.558-04:00 Towards The HeartbeatA chronicle of my daily attempts to point back towards God with a Christ-centered life.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-10416353889141803242017-02-16T10:15:00.002-04:002017-02-16T10:15:54.793-04:00Man, Death and Their Mutual Friend<h4>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>An original poem by Helena Noel</strong></span></span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Might there be sweeter friend to man than Death?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> For Death, 'tis thee who, patient, holds the door.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thy bedside watch endures 'til final breath,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> And thine the grasp our trembling hands secure.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A mother mourns the son beyond her reach,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> But thou, O Death, take each in thine embrace</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To guard these guests within thy gothic keep,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> And how such saints are gladdened by thy face!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Yet would not all be hellish but for Christ?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Without Death's King, thy keep? A brackish hole!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thou wouldst leave all entrapped in lifeless night</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> If not for Heaven's Light to grace each soul.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thou dost indeed most sweetly hold the door,</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Yet thou art gate to He Who's sweet still more.</span></b><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-84051376935227867132016-12-27T15:06:00.000-04:002017-02-16T12:01:03.626-04:00What Does It Mean To Point Back To GodWhen I started this blog, I had no intention to talk significantly about politics and news, except maybe briefly on subjects that moved me. I wanted to spend time in reflection on the Gospel more than our culture. On poetry, prayer, worship. Even so, the news-related things that I suspected I would talk about were largely positive: Pro life successes, my hopes for a promotion of a culture of real love and chastity, perhaps mention or point out some inspiring public Christians. What I ended up talking about: Any and everything that breaks my heart.<br />
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Granted, a year ago I was bright-eyed and optimistic, and while I was convinced that society would get worse before they got better, I thought for sure it wouldn't take too long for them to get worse, and things would get super-duper better, really quickly. Because God is good and His Christians would labor, day and night, to bring about His kingdom. Well, with continuing abortion (supported by 'c'atholics), brewing divisions, a crisis of faith and vocations, attacks on religious liberty, and moral decay everywhere, we're clearly still in the 'growing worse' phase, and I don't pretend to know how many lifetimes that will last.<br />
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That's why I wanted to point back to God. Both in my own life, (because my life is nothing without my eyes on Christ,) and here, for our culture. What an awful trajectory we're on! We need to jack the track straight up if we want to ride it to heaven. Frankly, right now, we're dashing along at light speed horizontally, convinced we're flying.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Templarsign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Templarsign.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Order of the Poor Knights of Christ<br />
Emblem, Source: Wikipedia</td></tr>
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I love our bold, tumultuous Church, and it seem right now she's in the another trough of the typical cycle of <i>powerhouse faith</i> and <i>dangerous unbelief</i> that our Church has tumbled through century after century. But all throughout them, every generation is filled to the brim with unsung saints and lovers of Christ: men and woman filled to capacity with his spirit who keep the rest of us soldiering on! They love God, pointing back to Our Lord with their words, deeds, and lives means orienting everything towards his glory.<br />
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Nothing changes the mission, not even an iota; although, it seems I must always take time to re-orient myself to this mission. As I've said before, its not God who changes, but we temporal earthlings who don't always cling to his heart like we should. I'm finding that I dart around the subjects of faith, and religion, and culture like a hyperactive child; unless I pause to reorient myself, I'm going to get lost.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Monk's_Loneliness_La_soledad_del_monje.jpg/220px-Monk's_Loneliness_La_soledad_del_monje.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Monk's_Loneliness_La_soledad_del_monje.jpg/220px-Monk's_Loneliness_La_soledad_del_monje.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Wikipedia</td></tr>
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It's the mission of each and every Christian to be an 'unsung saint,' and writing about my faith or about prayer helps me in part to immerse myself in the Church and God I love. Questions need to be asked and answers pursued: Where does God touch our world, where does He touch our lives, what part of our hearts are still in need of His light? The hyper-enthusiasm comes back so much stronger when I know where I'm running to!<br />
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And run I shall! Pointing back to God means being as quick to follow his commands as we are to preach them... and to preach them boldly! Not so that we may be saved by those 'good works,' or by keeping commandments, but rather that by accepting, with His Grace an enhanced and honest desire for goodness that spills out into our deeds. Faith's not a chore, but a joy!<br />
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God's Word, placed firmly in your heart, spills out into your life, making you a 'doer' and 'hearer' of the Word, and lover of His people.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/04/06/ed126801-ec1a-4143-9633-edc3ca1cb0f3/thumbnail/620x350/9a3834f0502cd50baaa9c5a990879d92/buffalostatue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2015/04/06/ed126801-ec1a-4143-9633-edc3ca1cb0f3/thumbnail/620x350/9a3834f0502cd50baaa9c5a990879d92/buffalostatue.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homeless Jesus, Buffalo, NY Source: CBS News</td></tr>
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It means letting your Life revolve around Christ's goodness, so that when people look at you they see a mouthpiece for Joy.<br />
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It means living out his command to love one another as he has loved us, because they'll know we are Christian by our love.<br />
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It means seeing Christ in the lowly, and never ignoring realities that break God's heart.<br />
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It means a lot of things, and I'm constantly astonished at the ways faithful Christians around me lead the world to Christ.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-73457082247968222042016-12-19T16:21:00.002-04:002016-12-19T16:47:53.779-04:00Rhythm of the Devotion: Need Some Funky Syncopation <h4>
My Prayer Life is Shiftless</h4>
Ten years ago, it was Shower, dress, morning prayer, mass, breakfast, school.<br />
Today, I can't summarize my routine in only a sentence. Lets just say that my life is a bit irregular, so if this prayerlife of mine is going to have a rhythm, the beat better have some <i>swing. </i><br />
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This morning, I woke panicky to a darkened room with burnt out light bulbs. Uh, well, slowly, and with a lot of hiding my head under blankets, flattening my face against my pillows, and procrastinating against looking at the nearby clock...<i> but shut up. I have my OWN style of "panic!"</i><br />
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I knew it was one of my last days of the semester and therefore, deadly important. The more classical version of panic set in when I rolled over, opened my eyes, and noticed that the room was completely different than I remembered because someone re-arranged it while I was at work earlier in the week.<br />
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Where the hell was the clock? Why couldnt' I turn on the lights? What time was it?<br />
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Many hours later, I still have no freaking clue what the answers were. Let me summarize: I'm finishing *different* degree I started two years ago at ANOTHER school near to where my parents live. And so at the moment, I'm living with them. And the rest of my family. And so also sharing a room: dish me out an extra helping of chaos!<br />
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I had to get dressed in the dark, blearily wondering if my dad left for work without taking me to campus, tripping over furniture I forgot had grown legs and moved and slamming into roaming desks.<br />
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I supposed this is the part where I say something about how what a wonderful morning devotion I had, or the great gospel reflection, or some other such 'devoted catholic makes time for devotion' thing. Uh, sure, I guess I did, but not in any spectacularly regularized manner.. Relieved that my dad's car was still in the driveway, I texted him to see if he was awake, and if he had work, and idled about until he texted me back. I ate cereal, I watched my siblings leave to catch their school bus. I charged my phone and put headphones on and listened to an audio book.<br />
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My dad didn't have work. I drove myself.<br />
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And NOW you're disappointed in me. Or not. If not, please be, because I really SHOULD have used that time to pray, and I've told Our Lord numerous times that I would give my mornings to him before perusing the things that I want: Facebook, audiobooks.. um.. actual books... (small list, but they are hella distracting!)<br />
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My prayer life has fallen through the cracks in the past semester, although I still go to mass, hit up Jesus for chats, and pray to his mother when I can't sleep. Occasionally, I ask my angel to protect me. I'm a creature of habit, and prayer is a habit, but when the things I associate with 'prayer time' fall away, I fall apart too unless I allow myself to lash it to my new norm. Having moved home again, I haven't found that norm yet, and I can tell, gracewise, in peace and faith and confidence, I'm suffering because of it. God always has grace to dispense to us, but we've got to be open and asking for it!<br />
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So! I drove myself, which is spectacular because I tie my prayer to my habits. If there's one thing you ought to know about me and driving, it's that I love to pray and drive, and boy do I need it right now! Although it's been almost a year since I've had a car to use freely, old habits stick around. I tried <i>very hard</i> to listen to the audio book I downloaded, But, praise God, I was buoyed up by force of old habits, and found that I couldn't help but pause it every so often to bring before God concern or care on my heart.<br />
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<h4>
Where is Christ in my School?</h4>
When I walked into the campus building, I felt solemn. My backpack seemed to press me forward. Every muscle in my body was prepared to bow; I instinctively looked for an altar to venerate with that bow, and for a tabernacle to fall on my knees before. But of course, my campus is secular, and the disappointment my heart cried back at me hit me like a ton of bricks.<br />
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I met God in prayer today before school, but that was a fluke. An one, teeny, old habit happened to line up with what I did today: Driving a car, alone, with no passengers during morning time. But I work afternoons, and my dad typically takes me to school. THAT isn't going to happen again for a while, most likely. I'm adrift, with a yawning, cavernous emptiness in me that is waiting for a relationship with my savior to flood in. And my school is adrift, too.<br />
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There hasn't been a Christian Club of any sort on this campus for over a year. I just returned semester to find that the entire club is AWOL, the president isn't presiding, and no one knows where we're supposed to meet. Its remarkably similar to my last semester here, two years ago, actually. But at least in my first semester, they were hiding, (long story;) THIS semester, the club is defunct.<br />
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But a brighteyed freshman boy with brain-melting powers of persuasion...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We should find the Club!"<br />
"Haha.. Okay.."</blockquote>
... lured me on a multi-week wild goose chase that ended with not one, not two, but THREE Student Life faculty members telling the two of us we needed to "<i>take the bull by the horns</i>" and become the leadership this non-functioning club needs. (What is it, the school slogan???)<br />
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And the lovely freshman said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I don't think I can be president, <i>but you</i> <i>should totally do it</i>..!"<br />
"Haha.. Okay..!"</blockquote>
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BLAST HIS POWERS!<br />
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So, I am the unelected <i>President Pro Tem</i> of the Christian Club. And I brought about as much order to the club as I managed in my own prayer life. That is none at all, with resolutions and no action. I got a vice, got a secretary, recruited two members who never show up. all but three 'meetings' this semester consisted of hanging in the student union chatting about cartoons with a bible on the table, with only two focusing on club business and prayer, and only one actually having a bible study. And we barely agree on meeting time!<br />
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<br />Courting Christ as a Student Leader and Individual </h4>
That sorrow and that need for Christ in my life and in my campus still reigns, and reins in the hearts of my clubmates, goofy as they are. The problems are this:<br />
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<b>Except for our first meeting, all the others took place simply because we <i>happened </i>to be in the same place at the same time</b><i>. </i>Everything was incidental, just like prayers on my morning drive. Spontaneity in prayer is good, but is that what devotion looks like? Devotion is <i>loyal enthusiasm,</i> it has deliberate acts <i>and</i> bursts of spontaneous love, and there is no deliberateness in the way we go about things.<br />
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<b>Its awkward, and being distracted is easier. </b>I give in to my media distractions all the time. So, apparently, does my club. The fact is, coming close to Christ and his intimate, overwhelming, complete and unrestricted love is <i>hard</i> when we fall short, and putting it off is easier. The same is true of our club: every prayer group or bible study is awkward, because faith is intimate, and bearing our hearts to God is hard enough. Now throw in supporting friends and allowing yourself be supported as you study and pray. Majorly hard if you don't know the status quo, Established groups can feel comfortable by sticking to their groups form and pattern, but new groups are in danger of just squishing out and avoiding meaningful prayer and reflection all together.<br />
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<b>Its scary to try and give what we fear we don't have.</b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>My function as Pres Pro Tem is limited. All I'm to do is redirect distracted members and introduce topics and relevant business. But every time I see someone straying, I'm too caught up in my inadequacy to lead to keep them on track. I can't keep <i>myself</i> on track and I'm afraid of my hypocrisy. I'm afraid of some hidden, unknown error in judgement I could make that would have been avoided by a prayerful Pres. So, I avoid prayer at home, avoid prayer at school, and so manage to stay, ironically, the un-prayerful pres that lacks the grace to bring about God's will for our Christian Club.<br />
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I won't let these things stand in the way anymore. A new semester is coming! I don't know who will be taking the bull by the horns in the future, but I know for the first few weeks it will still be plain old me: There isn't anyone else! The club must grow so that we can elect a better schmuck, but in the mean time I can take this break between semesters to prepare to give the three member it does have a form and routine and purpose: Weekly engagement and surrender to Christ, prayer, and study.<br />
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... in theory. We all have various schedules, so we'll need some swing in this prayer schedule, too. But everything is fun with syncopathic rhythm!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But Helena, "Syncopation" means 'irregular beat' while "Syncopathic" means 'shortened'...</blockquote>
Hush, you. With everything as wacky as it is, it will probably be both!<br />
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I'm tackling step one: Bending over backwards to decide a meeting time and place! That <i>need</i> to have a place to go to encounter Christ hit me hard this morning. But in truth, its been hitting me for many mornings, and for a while. I know my club members are hit, too. It can't remain like that. We WILL find a place that is FOR God, even if it's only for two hours or four hours a week, and only filled with the members of an unpopular club. He deserves that much and more. Hopefully, we will carry Him in our hearts out of that room, to our campus, and lives at home!<br />
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Don't question the video. Just enjoy the song.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-68196245355735452802016-07-04T08:00:00.001-04:002016-07-05T06:30:08.091-04:00Remembering the Whisper is A Lie<P>Spring has ended, it's the dawn of summer (along with summer jobs): I've faced losing my job, finding a new one, making friends and losing friends, and a million things between. They've made my life messy as a tangled and tied wad of headphone cords! Ahead, the new Fall semester looms, promising to to throw this so-called "summer vacation" a tizy as I try to prepare for September. Nothing about gearing up for school, so far, is going smoothly. Yes, its only* just July and I'm already preparing to go back.... ugh..<BR><BR>Sometimes, when we're overwhelmed, we fail and fall apart. Crankiness rears its ugly head, Impatience nibbles at your toes and makes you snap at everyone, while Habits and Attitudes settle on your back like a cloak, slyly suggesting they can comfort you when really, all you needed was a nap. It can be tough to fend them off, and sometimes I don't want to admit that I'm fighting them.</P>
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<P><BR><BR>A while ago, I talked about <A href="http://towardstheheartbeat.blogspot.com/2014/11/ive-been-getting-love-notes-from.html" target=_blank>God's little love notes</A>, and how he offers them to us as a way out of our brokenness. (Okay, perhaps I dithered on about many things, but the thought was <I>there.</I>) Those little notes pointed to a love so huge they were hard to accept.<BR><BR>But there is a message in the clutter, too. In the overwhelming and in wretchedness, there's always whisper. Even when it's some of the usually more pleasant type buzzing that keeps you moving about, sheer volume of things to consider can leave behind the feeling that '<I>you can't do this,' </I>and the idea<I> </I>that life is 'just too much,' can keep presenting itself. In the neatly wrapped package of rush and despair is that insidious lie, small enough to gobble up; almost a relief after drowning in Love: "You are pitiful, you are weak, you are unloved."<BR><BR>In the chaos of life, its easy to treat the stressors of every day as hassles and crosses. My job is hard because of <I>this,</I> my friends need me <I>here, </I>my family<I> there</I>. My professor has <I>this </I>unusually BS requirement. So work is hard? "<I>Deal </I>with it!" Oh, and "offer it up," right? That's advice we throw around like candy! Defeat the naysayers causing you trouble. We're told things like "Don't let circumstance get you down," "take it into your own hands," "Fight for what you want!" Popular right now are the words of Shia LeBeuf : "<I>Just do it.</I>"<BR><BR>But "Just doing it" isn't always the answer. Sometimes these words can give us the jolt of "fight" we need to plow through, and with looming stressors as obstacles, it would seem to make sense to push past them at times. Yet oftentimes it does little or nothing to counter lie. If anything, these combative words of encouragement set us up for a whole new round of failure by erecting difficultly as the enemy, with a goal and a obstacle. And with 5000 thing on your mind, more than likely you're going to splat up against a few of them.<BR><BR>I don't say this to be cynical. I know that, with God on my side, anything is possible, and yet I cannot tell you how many times I have armed myself with American determination and a good old Christian prayerfulness and smacked right into a brick wall! The attitude that things just <I>have</I> to be done means, if the fight isn't won and the goal unachieved, you'll fall back in deeper straights than ever because the lie of failure <EM>seems</EM> to come true. Not because fighting to achieve is a bad thing, but because we think of achievement wrongly. The only thing we have to achieve is God's greater glory.<BR><BR>People can get in the way of work, and doing work well gives gives glory to God. In Shia's rabid "Just do it" world, a concrete success is made the finish line.<BR><BR>Perhaps in the light of summertime and it's bright clutter it's harder to see the temptation to that lie, or maybe for some it's clearer. For me, after all the joy of it's family gatherings and bright demands make the lie seem like the murmurings of an insignificant worm.. The other stressors and temptations can kiss my butt when my family is around to help me. How could I have ever believed it?<BR><BR>But it snares many even in Paradise. There was a worm and a lie that made our first parents fall, and they were in the Garden of Eden! A "you are lowly, and I shall make you gods!" was whispered in their ears when, when the Most High God had already created a luscious garden for them. Their innocence was a gift, not an obstacle to be overcome, but they leaped over it in an effort to achieve the snake's vision of success <I>rather</I> than God's Glory, and they found a pit on the other side. False glory was a bait, and ingratitude a prod, and it was there that humanity fell down.<BR><BR>I propose Gratitude as the stave against idolization of the future, dreams, and success; Contentment to stave off glorification of achievements; ready wiliness to respond to the Giver to stave of habitual sin and temptation. Those three* together have so often kept me out of the mire.<BR><BR>How many of us, at a Sunday meal or maybe even Thanksgiving day, are able to indulge in that beautiful tradition of sitting around the table with your family and sharing what you were thankful for? Mine doesn't really do that specifically, but I was taught to thank God at the end of the day. And I do try to give thankfulness some thought in the evening. My life is hectic, (to greater and lesser degrees,) especially as a student. It is beautiful to hear the little golden linings people are finding in their own lives.<BR><BR>I have many things that I'm thankful for, my job, my school, my friends, my family, and on and on until I run outta fingers and toes and teeth to count on. Its like a the Earth we stand on, so huge that we can only see our square mile. These are the love notes of everyday life. I delight in them everyday, and even when I'm too shortsighted to appreciate family one moment or am bitter about schoolwork the next, he still smothers me with these blessings because His Love is just that good. He leaves us proof of this Love every day, more times than we can count, bigger than we can take in.</P>
<P>*Edited*<BR><BR><BR></P>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-18913821139810529032016-07-02T08:00:00.001-04:002016-07-05T05:57:00.209-04:00Blood and Lightning: Living Christ Like Mary Did<h4>
So I can be Ambiguous at times... And Unmoving at times...</h4>
Honestly, a lot of beliefs I hold to like a clamped bear trap. But those are the one are ones that my questions couldn't shake down and make crumble; they didn't spontaneously start like that! They aren't going to just be the first ideas that pop into my head. I grasp, like most people at smoke before finding substance, then stick to it afterwards for fear of finding aught else in the fog. Sometimes, I talk up conflicting things, too. I don't always explain or offer explanations when I do that, (bad Helena! Be clearer!) and I encounter confusion at how I could think both are true. But, very probably, I don't know <i>what </i>I think, yet!<br />
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I have to feel my way as best I can in both secular and religious arguments. Luckily, I have the immense pleasure of having friends with very striking opinions: Thunderbolts that illuminate the fog, that are intimidating to touch but clues in finding my way around.<a name='more'></a> (I guess In my catholic circles, these tend to be the "rad trads.") They rock their zeal like James and John, the original Sons of Thunder!<br />
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Then come those people my brain calls "the Bleeding Hearts," thought of affectionately as being twins to that Sacred Heart that bleeds. Some use term to deride the compassionate. In compassion they look at the far-off ones as they coax, they admonish, they force you to chuckle at your own nail biting at the thought of unseen cliffs and bid: simply run through your fears. These Hearts are quick to remind me that the <i>first </i>substance I need is the one I'm already standing on: The Rock of our Salvation.<br />
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But these Hearts don't want to remember that falling off the Rock is so easy to do. A Rock can be hard, and the magnetism of Christ's love can repel the fearful and the wary. Would you be surprised if I told you that there's tension between my dear Hearts and my Thunderbolts? Right now, debates about spirit and letter are zinging across every screen I turn on. Canon and doctrine this, pastoral and merciful that!<br />
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The zealots, with their thunder, shake their heads and shrug and say they know that it's a God of Love, that we mustn't stray from 'but do you know <i>where </i>you shouldn't go? There's love in this admonition, too. They desire so badly that no one should fall away, and they scorn those who drag otherw with them.<br />
'Do you know how close we're letting ourselves to that edge?' they say.<br />
And they lay out a terrifyingly jargon-laced manual for the fearful about the dangers getting close to the Sacred Rock's cliff.<br />
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<h4>
Mary is a Bleeding Heart, and a Bolt of Lightening</h4>
This "Bolt of Lightening" is a bizarre leap, I guess, since Mary was so meek. True, but I feel like the illumination of where we stand and where we must go is more essential to what the "Bolt" is than it's flamboyancy. She has the rigidity of the Lightening Bolts: What's more ridged than a life that never yielded to sin? And all the yielding of a Bleeding Heart: we all know of her mercy, and of how "Never was it known that anyone implores" her help "is ever left unaided." It was she who, for me, shined a light on where the love and the rule belong in Christian life.<br />
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For those of us who have spent our lives in this Catholic Church, thinking and listening so hard for clues about how <i>love</i> and <i>limits</i> are connected, its time to realize we've at times let ourselves be colored by non-Catholics in our thinking.<br />
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The 'rote' prayer of the rosary is a unique illustration of the romantic devotion and exacting devotion of christian life and prayer. Often are we chided by protestants about "vain" repetition with many words and precise numbering. But It isn't superfluous, its rigorous and dutiful; It isn't vain, its ardor, and it's love. And its mirroring of those qualities only deepens when you consider the mysteries you meditate on.<br />
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My cradle-catholic confusion at the necessity of a tension, of a Spirit of Truth and a Body of Truth, is the same confusion our separated brethren feel about our rosaries and our mysteries: How do you embrace Jesus by embracing Mary? Why pray "Hail, Full of Grace!" to the Mother when our Savior is her Son?<br />
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Answer: She <i>lived </i>her Son, from His conception till His cross. These mysteries of the most holy rosary reflect that awesome life.<br />
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The need to focus on an individual life and individual instance makes sense when you remember we aren't bibles, we're bibliophiles who still need to internalize the Gospel. Sometimes, I think that Jesus's Divine nature veils His humanity almost as much as His humanity veiled the Divine. There is something about His motive and movements that is hard to pierce until you walk in his footsteps: Until you Love like Jesus the Savior; until you accept the edicts of Christ the King. The God-Man made Flesh is the embodiment of the Gospel. We cannot be "Other Christs" for our brothers as Paul demands of us until we live the <i>whole</i> Gospel.<br />
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Mary is a glass that can help us to see the substance of the Divine Thought and Word and Law, since she, his faithful satellite, loved and saw and knew as only Mother could.What we <i>know</i> of Mary, more than anything, is that she was <i>there</i>, more constantly than any other person in the life of Jesus. Yet, her contribution to our understanding of Christ is only two: Love and Obedience. <br />
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Mary was a thunderbolt: The seeker of light and direction who's first question was, "How can this be?" The mind of God might have been high above her, but she reached, even while on her knees. She obeyed and submitted to Gods will. And she called for the same of others! Her command to the wedding servants, loving but exacting, echos up from Cana: "Do whatever He tells you to do!"<br />
<br />
...And she was a bleeding heart, who's famous command at Cana was <i>a sign compassion</i>, who pondered in her heart the mysteries of her Son, and how His presence grounded and transformed (quite literally,) her daily life. In the rosary, we find ourselves transported to his childhood, life, death, and glory through the eyes of one who abided.<br />
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I want to abide, forever, beside Our Lord. I want to <i>know</i> our Lord, and to know where to seek him. Where is my Rock and my Mountain, who loves me? Where is the path to His peak?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-13352155302426138822016-06-29T00:30:00.002-04:002016-06-29T00:31:13.266-04:00Why A "Fifth Luminous Mystery" Post (Still) Eludes MeMy final post in this series I'm genuinely sorry, guys. I had all five posts written before I even started publishing this series, but The Fifth mystery is the most important to me, and a little bit harder to write on. (The original are here: <a href="http://towardstheheartbeat.blogspot.com/2016/02/5-reasons-why-its-now-absolutely-absurd.html">1st</a>, <a href="http://towardstheheartbeat.blogspot.com/2016/02/why-its-absurd-to-skip-luminous-25.html">2nd</a>, <a href="http://towardstheheartbeat.blogspot.com/2016/03/why-its-absurd-to-skip-luminous-35.html">3rd </a>and <a href="http://towardstheheartbeat.blogspot.com/2016/03/why-its-absurd-to-skip-luminous-45.html">4th</a>.) The Fifth, however, didn't post as scheduled, or else wasn't visible to non-admins (I'm not sure, yet, which happened...) but it triggered a re-evaluation of it that I think was needed. I have shucked multiple drafts of that post, and have learned quite a bit of humility along the way.<br />
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I want to share with all of you not just what the The Fifth Luminous Mystery <i>is</i>, (The Institution of the Eucharist) but also what it may mean to us, and why it's ultra relevant to our lives today... Considering that the Blessed Sacrament is literally the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Him who we pursue and worship, it would <i>seem</i> to be harder to explain why it ISN'T relevant! But when someone is 'your everything,' how in the name of the heaven do you convey how truly they are 'your All?' The Eucharist isn't something you can typety-type into a neat combox manifesto. His Eucharistic Body, the Supper that was his very <i>gift of self</i> 1982ish years ago <i>overawes</i> me. How do I start?<br />
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I've returned from my unintentional hiatus, thanks for being patient. A lot of things are getting dredged up as I meditate and work on this. Good things, bad things, things that are hard to admit. But that's good, since this is supposed to be a "Chronicle of my daily attempts to point back to Christ." Please pray for me, as I write this! Heck, Maybe even pray the Fifth Luminous Mystery!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-71428484965125746322016-03-10T07:56:00.000-04:002016-06-29T00:31:23.939-04:00Why It's Absurd to Skip Luminous (4/5)<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 15px 30px 10px 25px; padding: 0px 25px 0px 0px;">
Even if you pray the Rosary, and the Luminous Mysteries occasionally, there are 5 compelling reasons why you shouldn't skip Thursday!</div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">4. A Need For The Acceptance Of Painful Glory:</span></h3>
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<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The fourth Luminous mystery is the <i>Transfiguration</i>. </span></div>
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<h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009028-q" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;">q</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18.7199993133545px;">28 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;">About eight days after he said this, he took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray.</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009028-2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">29 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"><i>While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.</i></span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">30 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;">And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009030-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">31</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009031-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> </span><a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009031-r" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">r</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> who appeared in glory and <i>spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem</i>.</span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">32 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;">Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009032-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> and the two men standing with him.</span><a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009032-s" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">s</sup></a></blockquote>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">33 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;">As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,<i> “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents,</i></span><i><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009033-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying.</span></i><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">34</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009034-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.</span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">35</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009035-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> </span><a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009035-t" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">t</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> Then from the cloud came a voice that said, <i>“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”</i></span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">36 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;">After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9#50009036-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;"> tell anyone what they had seen. (<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9" target="_blank">Luke 9:28-36</a>)</span></blockquote>
</h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">In answer to the question of why Peter's suggestion was misguided, Jimmy Akin explains in his own <a href="http://jimmyakin.com/2015/02/19576.html" target="_blank">Transfiguration listicle</a> that </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "corbel" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22.0049991607666px;">The experience of the Transfiguration is meant to point forward to the sufferings Jesus is about to experience. It is meant to strengthen the disciples faith, revealing to them in a powerful way the divine hand that is at work in the events Jesus will undergo. This is why Moses and Elijah have been speaking “about his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem.”</span></blockquote>
</h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This is the the beam of shining glory that, after his birth and before his resurrection, serves as the second advent of the Person of Christ. It spotlights beautifully both the "redemptive suffering" nature of Christ's mission, as well His reality as "Glorified King." But somehow, in this moment, Our King chose our redemption-- and His own subsequent suffering and anguish-- to be the focus of his disciples eyes. </span></span></h3>
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*Edit*<br />
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[Reason No. 5 Coming Soon.<br /><br />Apologies for taking so long.]Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-46797476455123776902016-03-03T07:50:00.000-04:002016-06-29T00:31:23.936-04:00Why It's Absurd to Skip Luminous (3/5)<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 15px 30px 10px 25px; padding: 0px 25px 0px 0px;">
Even if you pray the Rosary, and the Luminous Mysteries occasionally, there are 5 compelling reasons why you shouldn't skip Thursday!</div>
<div>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">3. Ministering To Our Nation Means Ministering Fully:</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The Third Luminous Mystery is the <i>Proclaiming of the Kingdom.</i></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote>
3They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="49002004" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">4</span></a>Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="49002005" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">5</span></a><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/2#49002005-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, <i>“Child, your sins are forgiven.”</i></span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote>
<i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="49002006" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">6</span></a><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/2#49002006-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,</span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="49002007" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">7</a> </span></i>“Why does this man speak that way?<a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/2#49002007-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?”</span><a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/2#49002007-b" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">b</sup></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="49002008" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">8</span></a>Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="49002009" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">9</a> </span>Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">10</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/2#49002010-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> <i>But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”—</i></span><i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="49002011" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">11</span></a></i><i>he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”</i><a href="http://usccb.org/bible/mark-2/" target="_blank">(Mark 2:3-11)</a></blockquote>
</blockquote>
The Proclaiming of the Kingdom is associated with many passages, because it is easily the broadest mystery in terms of all twenty: Every public miracle or discourse given by Jesus up until Passover were signs of His authority, His ministry proclaimed His Kingship. But I chose this passage for it's aptness, I think, in filling in the blanks left by the rest of the Rosary.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Where so many people crowded to Jesus for His knowledge, these men broke roofs out of love and desperation for another. This is it is not enough to evangelize, we must heal, we must set to rights, we must form a kingdom founded on love worthy of Christ's lordship. This means allowing our Good News to <i>be</i> good. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is a kingdom of wholeness and healing.<br />
<br />
The men in this crowd were scandalized at Christ's pronouncement of absolution. His moral authority was sought and listened to, not through trust in it's validity, but in a sense of seeking the novel. So when he acted upon it, forgiving this man his sins before the multitude, they were outraged.<br />
We seek to offer the same vision of Christ. We proclaim a need for repentance, and offer a place to find forgiveness. How many in our own culture wrinkle their noses, asking "who are <i>you</i> to tell me what sin is? Who are you to tell me where happiness lies?" Our credentials before the world as ambassadors of the Good News, as prophets proclaiming the Kingdom holds no water without love, without mercy. God is love, His Son is His Mercy poured out. This needs to be <i>seen </i>through us.<br />
<br />
Offering a Hail Mary for Charity at the beginning of the Rosary isn't enough.The miracle of physical healing offers a greater truth, that Christ it the divine physician that so many broken ones have been waiting for. He looked on this man Physical healing can be found in him, but there is spiritual health and healing, hope for new life-- and life abundance-- that is being offered here! His kingdom is proclaimed by love. It is in praying and meditating on His public acts of love that we will be solidified in both charity and truth.<br />
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Reason No. 4 NEXT THURSDAY</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-23132150782859482292016-02-25T08:00:00.000-04:002016-06-29T00:31:23.933-04:00Why It's Absurd to Skip Luminous (2/5)<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 15px 30px 10px 25px; padding: 0px 25px 0px 0px;">
Even if you pray the Rosary, and the Luminous Mysteries occasionally, there are 5 compelling reasons why you shouldn't skip Thursday!</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
2. The Crisis of The Family:</span> </h3>
<div>
The Second Luminous Mystery is <i>The Wedding at Cana</i>.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">1</span><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;"><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002001-1" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;">*</a></sup> On the third day there was a wedding<a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002001-2" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a> in Cana<a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002001-3" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a> in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.<a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002001-a" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">a</sup></a><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">2</span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">3</span>When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">4</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002004-1" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a> [And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”<a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002004-b" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">b</sup></a><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">5</span>His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”<a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002005-c" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">c</sup></a></blockquote>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">6</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002006-1" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a> Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,<a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002006-d" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">d</sup></a>each holding twenty to thirty gallons.<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">7</span>Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim.<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">8</span>Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”<a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002008-1" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a> So they took it.<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">9</span>And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">10</span>and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.”<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">11</span><i>Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs</i><i><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2#51002011-1" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a> in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.</i><b> <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2" target="_blank">(John 2:1-11)</a></b></blockquote>
<div>
<b><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2" target="_blank"><br /></a></b>It was weirdly bewildering, after SCOTUS decision on gay marriage last June, to read <a href="http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2015/07/ann-barnhardt-part-iv-pope-sodomites.html" target="_blank">Ann Barnhardt's interview</a> insisting that the Pope ought to be leading the rosary daily in response to western societies increasing decay. She insisted that this was fundamental to the solution, and yet stuck to the "15 Mysteries" narrative! Now, I don't know why she believes this, which is why I said "bewildering," but how can we not cling to the Wedding at Cana, to the miracle and blessing that began Christ's ministry, and the fact that this took place at a true and real wedding?<br />
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Here is a beautiful moment illustrating not only the special place marriage holds in the heart of God, but the power he puts out on its behalf. There is so much -- divorce, abuse, brokenness, unwed adults in illegitimate relationships, the sexulization of children-- this issue of the family and marriage spreads far beyond the SCOTUS decision. Yet a wedding was the beginning of His glory! We need some of this power and favor right now, we need all the grace God is willing to dispense for the strengthening of the family in America.<br />
<br />
The wine has run dry, and in an attempt to reconcile what they perceived as injustice, cheap wine was thrown to us by the courts, which only served to further ruin things as they are. We need to plead for holy, whole, and life-ordered families, to turn to Mary and ask her to beg Jesus for good wine!<br />
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Reason No. 3 NEXT THURSDAY</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-28058950540254148592016-02-18T08:00:00.000-04:002016-06-29T00:32:22.352-04:005 Reasons Why It's Now Absolutely Absurd To Ignore The Luminous Mysteries<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 15px 30px 10px 25px; padding: 0px 25px 0px 0px;">
The mysteries of the rosary cover the life of Our Lord's birth, death, and Resurrection. In 2002, Pope John Paul II Great added the 5 Luminous Mysteries to the Most Holy Rosary. After all, it only made sense that while meditating on the life of Christ, you meditate on the gigantic part in the middle where Jesus, you know, actually lived.<br />
<br />
With the humility of His birth we learn about God's grace and the extraordinary lengths that he will go through to accomplish the salvation of man. His death and Resurrection are the fulfillment of this accomplishment!<br />
<br />
Despite this, some insist that the originals were enough. And I felt, for the longest time, that while it didn't make sense to me, their prayer preferences were their own business. Personally, the Glorious are my favorite! But the fact is we are in trouble in a myriad of ways and the Luminous Mysteries have much that we need.<br />
<br />
Even if you pray the Rosary, and the Luminous Mysteries occasionally, there are some compelling reasons why you shouldn't skip Thursday!</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">1. Our Current Crisis of Faith:</span><b> </b></h3>
<div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The first Luminous Mystery is the <i>Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan</i>.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote>
<sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/3#48003013-i" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;">i</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> 13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote>
<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">14</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/3#48003014-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> John tried to prevent him, saying, <i>“I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”</i></span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="48003015" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">15</a> </span>Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">16</span><a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/3#48003016-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> </span><a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/3#48003016-j" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">j</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him.</span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: "arial important"; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; left: -40px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="48003017" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">17</a> </span>And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son,<a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/3#48003017-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> with whom I am well pleased.”</span><sup style="background-color: white; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;"><a class="enref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/3#48003017-k" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none !important;">k</a> (<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/3" target="_blank">Mat 3:13-17</a>)</sup></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;"> This is the apex of our mission, one that we are failing by and large right now. </span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;">How can we reject meditating on this beautiful mystery? The words of John are precisely where we need our hearts to be "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?" John was astonished that Jesus requested baptism, because he was aware of his iniquities. But also, this saint was thrown for a loop because the long awaited Messiah sought out lowly him. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;">This is the inspiration that we want to populate the hearts and minds of Christians and non-Christians alike, 'The Lord is coming to lowly me?' Its a source of awe that wins hardened hearts. In fact, the hardened hearts are hit hardest by this dawning, if only we can get it across. Our evangelization efforts ought to be coupled with this remembrance, and our prayers with this Mystery.</span><br />
<br />
Reason no. 2 NEXT THURSDAY<br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-51578308674480890912016-02-17T08:00:00.000-04:002016-07-05T06:20:10.814-04:00Pitching a Rainbow Cross: In Hoc Signo Vinces!<DIV class=separator style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both"><A style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1em; FLOAT: right; MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; CLEAR: right" href="https://powerofamoment.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/josh-october-2011-080.jpg" imageanchor="1"><BR></A></DIV>
<H4>Why Talk of A Weakness, of "Sinful Disposition?"</H4>
<DIV>To be clear, having a disposition towards your own sex isn't, on it's own, 'sinful.' When some people use the phrase "sinful disposition," they merely mean feelings and attitudes that could lead to sin. Sometimes, that's certainly the the case with gay attractions. Just like it's <I>also </I>the case with straight attractions.<BR><BR>Straight attraction is the 'good' attraction, we're told. But if you take a look at this good attraction, you'll see that the difference between chaste and unchaste can be hard to trace. There are plenty of confuzled teens wondering what they should feel about their budding, perfectly straight feelings, and getting very few perfectly straight answers.<a name='more'></a><BR><BR>A sinful disposition, in the true sense, would be Lust<I>. </I>Not only is harboring it sinful (because it means wallowing in or fabricating a feeling sexual pleasure,) either mentally or in reality, but it leads into greater sins of action. Of fornicating, of masturbating, or of usury over love-- even with one's own spouse. Yes, lust can exist within the carefully laid out lines of Holy matrimony! This is because staying out of sin isn't the equivalent of skipping over the cracks and coloring in the lines. That's why (without lust) I won't call <I>not</I> fitting into the cookie cutter of straightdom a '<I>s</I>inful disposition<I>.' </I><BR><BR>I'll say that I don't tend to "identify" as gay. Until recently, I still quite disliked the word. I tend to use it more by convenience, as a adjective or to describe my experience, than as a reference to <I>who</I> I am. But, if attractions to the same sex is a weakness we need to remember that the Apostle Paul declared that he would "boast in [his] weakness" (2Cor 12:9), and admonished that we must "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1Cor 11:1) He boasted PRECISELY of a "Thorn in [his] flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment" him! (2 Cor12:7)<BR><BR>To be clear, Paul DID NOT boast that this thorn was good or wonderful, and in fact claims that he "pleaded with the Lord to take it away from" him. (2 Cor12:8) But despite fervent prayer. the lord did not take it away, and that, in fact, is what Paul make's his boast! That he had a weakness he was too weak to carry, and that the Lord gave him Grace that was more than sufficient:"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2cor12:9-10)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<H4>"He didn't make you gay. He made you a conqueror in Christ Jesus!"</H4>Yes, I am a child of God, and if he sees fit to take away any of my thorns, this or otherwise, I will rejoice. But thorns, wounds, scars are places where God can reach down and touch our lives, and so often, his touch leaves evidence of His divine healing and light. He heals, but he leaves a scar, a beautiful scar, as testament to his power. I would rather have a closed wound overflowing with his love and pouring out his grace than to never have a scar at all. Faults, surrendered to his love, are happy faults!<BR><BR>Nobody says to a climber, "Why do you speak of Kilimanjaro and Everest? Why give it any attention if it's an obstacle?" Or imagine talking to a proud climber who made it to the top, he's showing you photos of himself and his mates standing on the mountain: "I'm glad you conquered a goal, but why is there a mountain under your feet? Cut it out!" The obstacle is the source of glory. And, in the case of sexual attractions of any sort, being able to look, chastely, at the people around you with abiding respect and due wonder means standing at the peak.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-21189545949393353662016-02-13T22:54:00.001-04:002016-02-13T22:56:51.353-04:00A Little More Boisterous Poem<h4>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal;">In response to "A Quiet Poem" by Elaine Equi</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">We scream for a lot of reasons. Because we’re hurt,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">because we’re trapped.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">We scream for attention, to grab the eyes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">of listless people around us.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">The nail screams as a hammer drives its point home,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">and so do we.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">We scream for freedom, for confirmation</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">in our conformity, though really</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">It’s to let ourselves out.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">But wounded screaming isn’t the only sound we release.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">It’s hard to crave quiet once you hear</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">It’s more boisterous sound</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Splitting the air and calling us all to attention.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">In truth, that screaming faucet bubbles a little,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">And children on the school grounds are squealing as they run.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">There’s a high flush in their cheeks that came</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">from deep down,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">and you can bet each scream pours</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">out from breathless smiles.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">The ambulance screams “Make way!”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Make way for the chance to save a life!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Maybe there is a lot in this world that doesn’t inspire laughter,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">And the brightness hides in the tiniest corners.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">But so much of it is stuffed in the clown car,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Wherever you find it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">All I know is that it is somewhere.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Light brooks of trickley sound denote it,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">and rivers of cheers</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Lead back to it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">My sister screams, my father screams, my brothers, friends,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">My teachers scream</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">“Make way for the sound of life...!”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">With shiny, excited eyes that can’t stay open</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Under the force of a chesty guffaw.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px; text-align: -webkit-center;">© Copyright 2015 Helena Noel</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px; text-align: -webkit-center;"> (theepic95 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-27435138488272250732016-02-13T21:12:00.000-04:002016-02-13T22:46:23.567-04:00A bit of sobriety over at the PHP<a href="http://pinkhairedpapist.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-sobering.html">I always love when Tori Long shares her thoughts.</a><br />
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I've caught myself, more than once, in the vanity of believing I'm better than myself.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-89319520577236200502015-10-11T18:18:00.003-04:002017-02-22T08:46:31.317-04:00A Culture That Believes In "Deadbeat Dads" And "Anti-Abortion Men"Our culture believes in two kind of monsters: The first is "Dead-beat dads," who leave their children and the women they once connected with to fend on their own. In a country where <a href="http://fatherhoodfactor.com/us-fatherless-statistics/">43% of children</a> live in a home without a father, no one will pretend that this is just some boogeyman in the closet. There's no wonder our culture abhors them.<br />
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But bizarrely, the second 'monster' our culture attacks is "anti-abortion men!" To liberals, they are one-and-the-same: the first refuses to take responsiblity for a child, the second refuses to kill a child, which we are told, is the 'responsible' thing in times of crisis.... both could result in women meeting that twister in the middle of Kanas.<br />
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Children turn your life upside down, there's no denying. Anyone who's seen a new mother, or watched a pair of lovers go from a couple to a family knows that it turns life, and life's goals, on it's head. Dead-beat dads are blackballed, justly, because impregnating and running isn't just a ding-dong ditch joke, it's playing with their partner/girlfriend/wife's entire life, and building a family should NOT feel like a cruel prank.<br />
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But that's exactly why pro-life men should be our culture's most badass heroes.<br />
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Men have been told time and time again that they <i>cannot</i> have an opinion when it comes to abortion, and that oh, by the way, the only way not to have an opinion is to support it. And for some of them, for the the same kind of man that our culture calls Monster Number 1, that's a relief! It gives them an excuse to escape their "consequenses" without looking like a villain, and some men blow the pro-choice trumpets selfishly knowing how it serves them. A child would tie them to women they don't want, or reduce what they can "get" out of the women that they do.<br />
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There is a genuine fear women's hearts that children, and they themselves, will be abandoned and uncherrised... so why is it the men who come forward to offer protection, under the law, by citizen charity, and in their own romantic relitionships, who are demonized? Men in the pro-life movement are all but invisible!<br />
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The heroes are men who support their daughters, wives, girlfriends, and keep them from making a horrible choice. The ones who take responsibility for the children that are about to come into their lives, and who stick around to see them through. The racial men who make room in the lives instead of demonizing life, and who offer love, calm and welcome instead of a message of fearmongering and panic. No matter the circumstances, (and I know that they aren't always ideal, or sometimes even very wrong,) if you're there to support women in crisis, in <i>this </i>one, gigantic instance, you're absolutely the hero!<br />
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The reality is, pro lifers are the champions of these women, children, and even of these men. Nobody wants to talk about it, nobody wants to admit this is part of the narrative, but men regret lost fatherhood. They look at the abuse they heaped upon their partners by their sex-at-all-costs mentality and they're filled with unimaginable grief. And it is abuse, when you take sex without the person: A person as a whole is life-producing, and loving. Quashing life, withholding love, that's the real monstrosity. No one should let anyone fall into that trap if they can help it!<br />
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Below is the courageously given video testimony of a man who sincrely regrets his part in his girlfriend's abortion. If men aren't supposed to take sides in this debate, then they certainly aren't supposed to be hurt by it, but he was. He describes the atmittably awful circumstances where he cheated on his wife, and pressured his pregnant girlfriend to terminate her pregnacy. What he did was terrible, and his remorse is real. You could tell, looking at him and hearing his words, that he hopes no child and no woman ever go through something like that again.<br />
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Powerful, well-dressed, career oriented, unbound by obligation, sexually liberated... abortion-minded... Our culture has it's monster-glasses upside-down, because it holds up men like how he described his old self as its ideal heroes.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-29166543280932618832015-09-20T01:39:00.000-04:002015-09-20T04:14:35.233-04:00Declare, As Men Among Fairies:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/i/poem_images/620/my-fairy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.poemhunter.com/i/poem_images/620/my-fairy.jpg" height="400" width="235" /></a></div>
<h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">An original poem by Helena Noel</span></h4>
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<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-60033363-e92e-0c11-63ed-f94ac945a173" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-60033363-e9cd-ef97-23c3-c9abbcd14d9f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tell, which steely auth, or law,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Doth "mustn't" us our beds?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">In hour of weary burden, saw</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">thee justice in this said?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thou steal from ‘tween the teeth,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">O fairy, sustenance and wine:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Twould seem a weak and gutless man’s</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">The fruit of thy design! </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Be it the roar of doughty mirth</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">that quakes thy spritely core?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Or swagger’d waltz of red-blood men </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">that lillifies daintish ichor?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thou churlish sprite who simpers ‘neath</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">The <span id="docs-internal-guid-60033363-e9d1-6869-0d6c-b038d9a96dc5" style="font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">sheathéd </span>olive boughs</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Forbids the manly task of paying</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Evil what ‘tis owed!</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Say "NAY!" then roar and romp, ye men,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">And plow thy rivals low!</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rest ye, and drink, and down the wine</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">That makes thy passions flow!</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ye fairies, steal among the lillies;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dance thou amidst thy glens.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">But lilac feet and ‘mustn't’ bleats</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Shalln’t fairify true men!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-91869883359897979802015-09-04T22:18:00.001-04:002015-09-05T22:55:29.699-04:00Fearfully, Awkwardly Avoiding the Gay: My Experience With SSA<div class="Separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidokE6s-FOvjAHAbLY6hVdYhCW_MfLYrPixvuH2dPYqia5V0g1Nigseb8F2IA5dlb_xW_IPijqKMq_3Dg9kFRUP3CVf9o_3lEnIe2_ag49kNDTdMEWb0bR6OYwetDTlpL0Kpj3aSe1u6o/s1600/GayDictionary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidokE6s-FOvjAHAbLY6hVdYhCW_MfLYrPixvuH2dPYqia5V0g1Nigseb8F2IA5dlb_xW_IPijqKMq_3Dg9kFRUP3CVf9o_3lEnIe2_ag49kNDTdMEWb0bR6OYwetDTlpL0Kpj3aSe1u6o/s320/GayDictionary.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What were your early impressions of the word "Gay?"</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">At a young age, I suppose I didn't understand it. I was a bookworm and a recluse, preferring my family, social only in so far as I was dragged by sibling into street hockey and kickball at first, and then later social among only extremely comfortable friends. As a home-schooler, I was outside of mainstream school culture, and understood words not by their slang meanings, but dictionary definitions. Gay was very much still slang when my generation was growing up, so as a non-insider, I'd hear the word 'gay' and assume it meant "merry." </span>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My first introduction to another possible definition was on the basketball courts near my home. My older brothers' friends constantly teased me, as part-and-parcel of their duty and loyalty to my elder bros. Something which I accepted in stride (while pugnaciously fighting it back.) Smack talk was passed back and forth as much as the basketball, and amidst it, someone called me "gay," asking if I was a "lesbian."</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was due, I now suppose, to my unfeminine hairstyle, long cargo shorts, dark colors, and 9 yo tomboy hatred of all things girly. I revolted (vocally, if not literally) against skirts on Sundays and "pink" was a word that could flair my temper. But I wasn't familiar with "lesbian." Sex and sexuality hadn't carved out a place in my mind. The oldest brother chimed in that I wasn't, and to quit it, confusing me by breaking away from smack talk. "Gay means happy." His friend explained, grudgingly followed his cue. To other questions about 'lesbian,' </span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">my bro told me to ask Dad. I don't remember if I ever did. However, being the brat I was, I DO remember snottily saying "I know that's what GAY means, I read it in a book!"
<b>How did you look at the sexes? When did concepts of sexuality hit your radar? </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It took a long time for sexuality to be more than an abstract concept fun to debate. When puberty hit around 12-13, and I found I still wasn't attracted to boys, it was confirmation in my mind that I was enlightened, advanced, wise beyond my years in knowing that men were worthless outside of the realm of my beloved sports: Desirable as companions only because they were better at sports than me, and ever convinced that this wouldn't be true for long. I'd liked the combative nature of my friendships with guys and my brothers friends, but was convinced that combativeness was the only correct relationship between the sexes, at least until childhood was over. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Largely, I was in awe of and confused by girls. I had brothers galore above and below me for the longest, and no rosettta stone to use for interpretation. I was yanked out of grade school very young, so this family environment was what formed me. My limited experience with my own sex, aside from parents and grandparents, who I didn't percieve as peers, was of scorn: First from-them-to-me, and then from-me-to-them in kind. </span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn't like girly stuff, so girls viewed that as an unwelcome criticism. </span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I went into school as a tomboy, and was ridiculed for it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My own sex was a mystery. Even with the few girls as friends that welcomed me, I was kinda outside. I observed their idea of fun like a tourist watching exotic mystics at strange and foreign</span> <span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ceremonies. The braiding of hair, painting of nails, gossip about boys and superficial fastidiousness. These were literally like abstract rituals and strange votive rites in my mind, and I decided I didn't want to adhere to that unknown religion if I couldn't understand it. It didn't help that my primary and most girly friend somehow 'walked both worlds,' being sportier than my brothers, and prettier than anyone I'd knew at the time. I couldn't reconcile those realities. But I'm glad she was there, or I wouldn't have known one relatable </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">girl in a million.</span>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Did you apply either the terms "Gay," or "SSA," to yourself, then?</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">No. </span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'd never heard the second, but I used n</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">either. Partially because it was completely undeveloped. (With that last friend, contempt for the mystery mixed with genuine affection despite not understanding were the confused feelings of my friendship towards her.) Partially, because it was at least a year later that I'd moved from admiring to admiring and being attracted, and even then, I couldn't sort them out from each other. There had been an immense shake up in my circle of friends, and I found myself suddenly in the opposite environment, of some few boys and vastly, mostly girls. Half of them were of the older, faithfully Catholic, zealous for God, and incredibly intelligent variety. It made </span><i style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">sense</i><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for me to admire them, and as girls, they continued to be mysterious. For the first time, I was fascinated instead of repelled. The majority of evidence for their sportiness was more maternal, they ran around and played with smaller children, even when those kids weren't siblings! Quickly, I found that was something I could imitate, and everyone seemed to expect and approve it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn't even apply the those terms then, although by 15 they <i>both</i> definitely</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> fit. I had girl-crush after girl-crush, and even called them that in my head on rare, honest occasions. But it SEEMED for me to be simple teenage-dom. People admire people. There were moments of strong attraction, seemingly undeniable and obvious looking back, but I brushed them away. I knew what they were, but rationalized.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Anytime I felt 'weird' towards a girl, I'd think: "I feel odd because everybody's odd as a teen." "Of course I like the way she looks, she's pretty." "God wants us to love beauty, right?" I'd blame it on my physical state, or some imagined sinfulness: "I was just really, really tired," "It was just a lot of adrenaline." "I'm envious, it's just weird envy." Sometimes, I'd shift the blame on her being very good, and down to pretending it's just <i>that </i>girl: </span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I just LIKE her, she's NICE."
</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'd stuff down instance after instance, until it was a daily, then weekly, then monthly reflex. At first, instances came less often as I got to know each friend, but alarmingly, I was able to see my attraction more distinctly each time, and they were harder to ignore. I'd forget for months at a time that I'd liked or was attracted to a girl, then one particularly pretty smile would bring a new fluttering of heart, with every single memory of old moments crashing down behind it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would spiral into awkwardness and confusion, and usually run and hide while I build up my narrative of lies to hide my attractions behind. It became harder, more stressful, but I'd eventually forget, and go back to anticipating eagerly time spent with those same girls.
<b>Why lie to yourself? Why was it so hard to say "I'm gay?"</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Association. I used to be SO bothered by the word "gay," and was was afraid of having it put to me for the longest. As a teen, I only associated it with the lifestyle behind it, and the media narrative that we "don't get to choose." I'd hear the straight, secular apologists of the world didactically proclaiming that we needed to accept the perversion of homosexual sex. They'd even proclaim that, though gays were loving and could be just as monogamous, we must also accept the infidelity and licentiousness and bar-hoping from the sex-crazed underbelly of 'gay culture,' or we were all 'homophobic,' because that was just a part of these men's sexualities. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a fateful month when it dawned on me that "gayness" was an overhanging feature of my reality. I'd found myself drawn, for the first </span></span><i style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">honest</i><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> time, towards first one, then a second guy. Both very mildly, but they were enough. The similarities of the two types of inclinations, homosexual and heterosexual attraction, threw themselves my face, and the illusion was shattered for the last time: it was not just a 6-year, implausibly-long series of similar instances of girl-crushes and attractions "fed by adrenaline" and "weird feelings when you're tired." These were the feelings that everybody called "being gay." But it was too late.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took refuge, mentally, in the word "homosexual," but it was a terribly poor refuge. The "Gay" world might have been the world of sin, but "homosexual" was the word of damnation. It was the one that angry Christians used to talk about the encroachment of marriage and Christian rights. These malicious, nefarious subverters of our culture were the destroyers of all our sexual ethics. It was a softer replacement for "sodomite," and calling someone "homosexual" was tantamount to calling them crap instead of shit. I hated it, and it seemed there was no word for someone like me. </span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The world had linked 'gayness' and the sinful behaviors of gay culture</span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> intrinsically in my mind. I was afraid that if I let it be put to me, or put it to myself, I'd be dragged into it or driven into it by screaming Christians and coaxing secular-ites. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I drifted. Until, finally someone introduced the concept of "Same-Sex Attraction" as an experience rather than identity. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>How did this happen, and what did the term "Same-Sex Attraction" do for you? </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the beginning of being set free. Before this, there was an agonizing half-year of consciousness </span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">but no comfort</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was like all the painful and awkward attractions of my teen-dom on re-run, with the inability to even begin shutting out new ones. My defenses were gone, and I was terrified of girls AND guys. I was even scared of beloved friends who'd never been a source of anxiety before. I avoided them at a crucial moment of my life, and I regret that more than anything. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'd told a school friend, vaguely Catholic, and gotten a blank stare without help. I remember listless, but awkward questions. She didn't see why it was more concerning as anything but a curiosity. In a spurt of bravery, I tried again, and I'd confided my confusion to a closer friend. I didn't know what to expect, but she blew me away. Her reaction was love, understanding, and patience. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">When it was appropriate, she told me of a group called Courage, which fortunately she had <i>just</i> that week stumbled across, and told me to give it a look over. The website, the testimonials, and the message was pure hope. I could be a faithful Catholic! Meetings weren't an option at the time, so I joined a listserve, and was met with reassurance. </span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Courage patiently explained that sexuality was <i>one part </i>of a person, and attraction as experience rather than a determinant for who I am and how I must grow, I was SO INCREDIBLY relieved. I didn't think it was possible to flourish as a human being, rather than just coping, while experiencing SSA! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My culture had been telling me that to be "gay" meant resistance to the Gay lifestyle was inevitably to be found impossible, or at least wounding, stunting, stifling. I'd know, as a Catholic, that behavior is a choice, but believed the lie that choosing to be faithful would and must be stifling! The fact that they referred to chastity as a cross for homosexuals, (and offered no explanation) just reinforced that apprehension. It was a matter of </span></span><i style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">extreme </i><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">fear and concern, and the reason why I'd buried the phenomena of being inclined towards other girl deep down in the first place.</span></span><br />
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<b style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you agree with Courage, and Fr Harvey, SSA over GAY?</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Late Fr. John Harvey, who I've never been blessed with meeting, is often quoted:</span> <span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Yes. I avoid using the terms “gay” and “lesbian” for good reason. An individual is more than a sexual inclination….To refer to him or her as a “homosexual” is to reduce that person to a sexual tendency….The terms “gay” and “lesbian” are an even further reduction of a person’s own wondrous complexity…."</span><i style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> [Fr. John Harvey, “Homosexuality and the Catholic Church: Clear Answers to Difficult Questions,” Ascension Press, 2007, p. 28]</i></blockquote>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think he is wondrously right. But when I say this I don't strictly mean it in reference to the idea of avoiding the three terms "gay," "lesbian," and "homosexual." I mean <i>"an individual is more than a sexual inclination,"</i> and that these words often reduce people <i>to </i>those inclinations. But my point is, <i>they don't have to</i>, and <i>they shouldn't. </i>They are reductionist only because the people who uses them think in reductionist terms. </span></span><br />
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This language will still exist years from now. Our own-English translated Bibles use the words "homosexual" and "sodomite," and no one in the secular world has ever overlooked it. If we ever win the war of words among Christians on Fr. Harvey's terms, we will have succeeded in making Christians sound like morons. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Church has grown in psychological knowledge, and deepened in it's grasp on the Gospel. She proclaims the same truth, but with more confidence than ever that these experiences, same or opposite-sex attracted, are only experiences. Not invalid, but not defining, and certainly not identities. Out identity, we are told, is "Child of God." </span>
<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And secular gays look at us like we're nuts. To them, either we're in denial, or off in some separate sexual realm. "That's all well and good for you," they determine, "But you see <i>I"m gay.</i> This <i>is my</i> identity."</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We move the goalposts when we change the vocabulary. They don't relate to the term, so to them, "SSA" is "Gay, weak-sauce." Either it results in two camps, a <i>not-gay-man-who-still-likes-men </i>camp<i> </i>(what?) and <i>gay man </i>camp, or else it flops entirely<i>. </i>But if what Fr. Harvey said is true, "an individual is more than a sexual inclination," then "gay" and "lesbian" as an identity </span></span><i style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">don't even exist. </i><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">They are not, and never were, who we are, or who the secular-gay-man is. The only things the could be are what we've been describing all along: One part among many of our beautiful humanity. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">These words need to be captured, not destroyed in the vocabulary wars. Same-Sex Attracted is precise, but clinical-sounding, and works as an explanation of concepts, but not a descriptor of qualities. With "gay," it's familiarity is a point of connection in so many minds! To be able to say "gay" and know, without thinking, that it's an friendly adjective and not the person, would be a boon to bar-stool evangelization everywhere, and rescue so many teens from the fears that I faced. "Gay" will be around for a while. It's time to stop letting it be bait to a romanticized underworld, a Christian bludgeon, or ignorant slur. </span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-83947420852597843022015-08-31T02:18:00.000-04:002015-08-31T16:28:52.460-04:00Christ is Not the Center of My Life. In this moment, I couldn't love Jesus more. He is amazing, He's my hero. I love Him, and can hardly wait to be with Him in Heavenly bliss forever.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The prophet Tobit, blind and<br />
praying for his own destruction.</td></tr>
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But He's not the center of my life.<br />
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Yeah, I can practically hear the record scratch, see jaws drop, and little old men are all going blind at the sheer unquestionable blasphemy of those abominable words that I just typed across this page. The Hellfire is licking at the corners of all of our screens, now that I've said it. That is, if you haven't punched those screens out from righteous zeal and indigence. How can I <i>dare</i> to claim to love Christ if he's not the center of my life?! Isn't that the tagline for this blog? To "point back to God with a Christ-centered life?"<br />
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Specifically, it's "A chronicle of my daily attempts to point back to God with a Christ-centered life." For now, at least. I might modify the phrasing if I think of something easier to get your mouth around, but that's the deal with this blog. Loving God, pointing Christ-wards, and doing it with my daily life. But then there's those words, "chronicle," and "attempt," which I feel are also important.<br />
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A chronicle is a factual, historical account, and lets be honest, have I always turned my face and my heart to God perfectly? No. Will I? I hope so, but I'm not there yet. The plain fact is, I love <i>so</i> many things, and I'm capricious as a saytr. Sometimes, those things seem or feel or look so good that I forget, or even refuse to think about, how good God truly is. I don't mean, merely, that there are moments when God isn't on my mind; I mean that there are moments, most days, when I choose to orient my will towards the immediate and pleasurable, or convenient, over His will for me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.northernstarart.com/photos/Ten%20Commandments.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.northernstarart.com/photos/Ten%20Commandments.JPG" height="300" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Ten Commandments" by Bruce Eagle</td></tr>
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Sometimes, its by smaller ways, like using unkind speech when I know He wills me be loving. Sometimes, I find myself pretending I didn't just ditch God for the golden calf. Even though I know, by doing or accepting or ignoring things when I'm aware it means defying His Kingship over my heart, I'm still doing the whole idolatry she-bang. As long as I make these choices, as long as I overlook Jesus here and there, I'm denying Christ as my center and my goal. He's "Jesus: slightly left-of-the-center of my life," or "Jesus who is my only love and focus as long as I don't hate what some grumpy stranger cussed at me, more." And that's not enough for Him. Its not even enough for me.<br />
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A couple days ago, the need to explain this to someone arose. I tried to, but I got it all fudged up in my head. She'd shocked me, and perhaps many others around us, by suddenly confessing her past issues with sex, drugs, alcohol, drunk driving, and the law. She was half-boasting, half remorseful, and targeted it at me, the 'Christian.' "I'm going to Hell," she added with a smile. I'd known about her past, but from private confidence. Out in the open, I fumbled, this was a professional setting, and she'd always seemed <i>very </i>professional<i>.</i> This deceleration that she was hell-bound came like a left hook.<br />
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I tried to explain forgiveness and mercy. "You're clean, that's the past!"And I'd added, for good measure, that it was quite a feat for anyone to come so far, and that she would be forgiven by God if she asked. Her response was to turn it up a notch, and pour out her current iniquities as well. Those were 'impossible' to give up. I knew what to say, but not how to say it, but an agnostic in the group (or so he'd led me to believe,) came to the rescue, assuring her that it's never to late to change: we can always find our way back to God.<br />
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The need to turn our hearts to God kept surfacing, and the difficulty of turning away from things always swatted back. I let them duke it out, her fighting and him reassuring, with only gently nudging comments from myself. All day today I kept thinking back, and decided a large issue was she misunderstood Hell and Heaven. She thought she deserved to be punished! But where you go when you get to the next life isn't a matter of punishment and reward, not wholly, but a matter of love. We aren't condemned by this Almighty Judge, so much as the curtain on our motives is peeled back. God aches after us, but doesn't force Himself on us. He gives us instead what we truly love most, and sometimes, that isn't Him.<br />
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<i>We have to love God</i>, I'd thought,<i> and i</i><i>t has to be our biggest love. </i>Yeah. That's the hard part about this piece. Sin is always a refusal to give our hearts to God, but we lie about it, and say, "I love God, but loneliness is despairing, withdrawal hurts, temptation's a bitch, and change is painful." We justify our failures by how difficult it is to embrace His will in those areas. But what we're really saying is, "I don't love God quite so much as my need to simply not hurt." And that's not enough. "I just fell because it's hard." No, I fall because Christ means less to me, or I believed for a moment that he did, than whatever is difficult in the now.<br />
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<i>Why</i> would I have miserly held to my grudges? Because a sense of woundedness from some encounter was deeper than my Love of God. If I loved God and his admonishment to forgive ran deeper than my pride and my sense of victim-hood, I'd have cast them aside like pennies for a fountain.<br />
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It's not easy, and we can't force it. Sometimes, we need faith to overcome our desire for the things that would foil us, because we can't always love enough. But every temptation, every fear, every stumbling block in our path is a chance to admit this, humbly, to Jesus. To say, "Christ, I love You, this is such a heavy cross. Give me the love and strength I don't have to remember that <i>You</i> are enough." If you let Him fill you and cling, by faith, when desiring Him seems hard, He'll bless you with greater love, greater faith, and greater zeal. After that, you'll be lugging out a catapult to fling habitual sin to the winds. You don't need copper pennies when you partake in a love as rich as Heaven's Love!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://f.tqn.com/y/angels/1/W/K/9/-/-/Jacopo_Tintoretto_-_The_Miracle_of_Manna_-detail-_-_WGA22539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://f.tqn.com/y/angels/1/W/K/9/-/-/Jacopo_Tintoretto_-_The_Miracle_of_Manna_-detail-_-_WGA22539.jpg" height="352" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #989898; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: start;">"The Miracle of Manna" by Jacopo Tintoretto</span></td></tr>
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I have so much ardor for God, but never enough. Thankfully, He is ever teaching me to adore Him more. My life is full of God-enamored moments, like today, in which I'm graced with the faithfulness he requires of me, and that I so much want to give. I'm praying these moments can spread like wildfire, and set ablaze my whole self for Him! Jesus is still very much courting my heart, and though I'm fickle, I'm falling in love.<br />
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For now, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC8QtwIwA2oVChMI25nhn9TSxwIVCjU-Ch3q3wNC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DvUwRX2HPLKY&ei=au_jVdu8NIrq-AHqv4-QBA&usg=AFQjCNHvIi8ZCRdPme9ZSHVZWNA5schQ4w&sig2=RBwvzjYteEBlgOjaw-wXIg">Charlie Hall</a> and Matt Redman's song is my song and prayer: "Christ, be the center of my life, be the place I fix my eyes," and never let me turn away from You.<br />
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In the now, I chronicle my attempts to love, and to make adoration my life. Expect a blog full of God-moments and of re-orienting when disoriented.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-80110125419534297042015-08-28T08:00:00.000-04:002015-08-29T11:03:32.925-04:00My Prayer For Today: Thy Will Be Done<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.multilingualblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/300px-Old_timer_structural_worker2-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.multilingualblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/300px-Old_timer_structural_worker2-1.jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[photo] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Old_timer_structural_worker2.jpg">construction work</a>er<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.1599998474121px; line-height: 17.1079998016357px; text-align: start;"> on the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.1599998474121px; line-height: 17.1079998016357px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" title="Empire State Building">Empire State Building</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.1599998474121px; line-height: 17.1079998016357px; text-align: start;"> as it was being built in 1930. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The whispered prayer on my lips today doesn't start with the Sign of the
Cross.<br />
It starts with a laugh. Continues with "Lord! I'm scared!"<br />
And
ends with a smiling "Thy will be most joyfully done."</blockquote>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-55021550027328434412015-08-27T22:59:00.000-04:002015-08-30T22:01:18.436-04:00Same Mess or "Same Crosses," But New Creation in Christ!As a kid, we all had chores, and naturally my mom would be on us about
them. The worst was when we'd do our own particular chore but, because
there were eight other people in the house, it inevitably got undone. My
mom would point to whatever it was and say "that is the <i>same </i>pair of
shoes as yesterday," or "that is the <i>same </i>coat/dish/toy/towel/game/throw
pillow as two hours ago!!!" And, knowing that I'd very honestly
put those things away, I'd shout "Well, this is the SAME HOUSE! Did you
expect the neighbor's shoes?"<br />
<br />
I was defensive because, often, she was accusing us of
shirking; Mom thought we left work undone and was upset. But I have to wonder if
sometimes her source of exasperation was the fact that we make those same messes
over and over. It was the same house, the same people living in it, with
the same bad habits. I found myself wondering absurd things, like if she'd
be happier if the messes were 'nicer' messes, instead of things she was
bored with looking at. Or if they were made by less-annoying people: we were raucous and sloppy, and that never changed. Or were in a less-boring house.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I'm almost instinctively
ashamed, talking to people about my spirituality. Mostly, I only do it when I feel I need
help or some kind of connection, typically for the same reasons every time. I
wondered vaguely if it wouldn't be 'nice' to fight with something
different for a change. I was berating myself for that, just now, over this page, telling myself that of <i>course </i>I'm
fighting the same demons, same sins, cleaning the same messes: its the
'same house.' And it hit me how resigned that phrase felt in my head. Resigned to being a living mess: to taking out the trash, falling,
then sweeping up again. When I make those same mistakes, I guiltily
present my confession, with my only defense being 'same human, same
demons.'<br />
<br />
I remember once responding with confusion and not a little
bit of horror when a priest suggested I move from sinning against
myself to sinning sexually with another person because he felt that the
first was a result of 'loneliness'. This priest was wishy-washy, and
before I could say a word he could see by my face that I didn't like his
idea.<br />
<br />
"Well, You aren't giving me any cues. I don't know which one
you feel is more acceptable. I don't know how I can help you. Its not
good to be alone." I responded that I wouldn't replace one grave sin
with another grave sin, especially if I wasn't already struggling with
it! Amidst his reassurances that he would never <i>truly </i>encourage me to
do something wrong, that he merely wanted my thoughts, that "but you
know the Pope told us" that we couldn't judge committed homosexual
couples since we "don't understand truly what love is meant to be," I began to understand that we all had
certain battles to fight. And <i>praise and thank GOD </i>that at our roughest times, He only allows us certain
battles! <br />
<br />
I avoid this priest's confessional like the plague, now. The suggestion that I put a ranking on grave sin, then
choose the lesser one was mind boggling, just like the idea that a
different mess in the same house would improve the problem somehow. It wasn't a matter of 'what kind of sin
should you be accepting of' but <i>"what kind of person do you need to be
to finally say 'NO MORE!' "</i>? Same 'house,' same 'messes,' different
person.<br />
<br />
Baptism, confession, communion, prayer, those are supposed to
make us new! I struggle with the 'same demons,' but each victory is stronger and higher and more of a magnifier for the glory of what God has done through His Spirit in me. I'm free, now, and even the devil knows it! How can we bend to mere temptations aimed at pathetic
us when we are so saturated, so filled with Christ when we are created into Him?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://quietplace4prayer.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/jesus-knocking-the-door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://quietplace4prayer.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/jesus-knocking-the-door.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-59720405413736901082015-08-25T04:15:00.001-04:002015-09-05T03:34:04.872-04:00Finally Letting Go of Grudges: Our Bitterness Hurts Us, Too.There aren't many things to talk about at work for me, as I'm finding I don't have a whole lot in common with my co-workers. Mostly, talk about high school, smoking, and PlayStation and Xbox, when I'm more of an "oh-my-Lord, thank you for giving me lungs" and "oh look, Nintendo!" kinda gal. So when a topic floats up that I can relate to, like bizarre customer behavior, I go all in. But their attitudes were little different than mine.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://data.whicdn.com/images/7361229/flip+bird+2_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://data.whicdn.com/images/7361229/flip+bird+2_thumb.jpg" height="265" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't need to talk; my finger tells you I'm angry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a name='more'></a>It took a while for me to catch it, since the stories and reactions were all the same: We all laughed, we all thought we'd met the genuine article of a manic-customer-let-loose at some point, and we all swore that the minds of other people were just incomprehensible. But where I was laughing because unusual misunderstandings, special requests, and strange complaints were a mysterious part of life that we'll all encounter, they were scornful.<br />
<br />
To them, there was something <i>wrong</i> with the people who messed up their own order six times, or who couldn't understand what a 'combo meal' was. The impatient man who I described from an old job who tried to flip me the bird, but actually used his index finger? They concluded something was wrong with him. Man loitering at another restaurant for their wi-fi that our former front-counter girl once worked at? Must be messed up.<br />
<br />
There is a woman, she comes at least weekly, who climbs out of her car in the middle of the drive thru in order to retrieve the dessert drinks she always orders. Which, of course, always <i>must</i> be placed in paper sandwich bags instead of normal drink tray. I'm always excited when I hear her voice over the headset! Sure, her requests are weird, but I know them by heart. I laugh every time, because those weird normals feel like life. The others shake their heads, with an "oh, it's <i>her</i> again."<br />
<br />
The conversation shifted, gradually, from weird customers to ones they would rather not deal with, to of course, <i>people</i> they 'shouldn't have to deal with.' This was even more sour. I was a little surprised by how many people the people around me claimed to dislike. At a loss for words, I just tried to count on my fingers, to see if there actually was anyone like that for me.<br />
<br />
I can remember a time, not too long ago, when I was at odds with a friend who had, I believe, tried to press me in a very wrong direction in a very serious matter. It had devastated our relationship, and I was soured towards him for a long time after. It was impossible to feel charitable towards him, and yet I became meticulous in being polite to him, smiling at him, listening to him, and tried to be conscious and considerate of the other things he said. Yet, outside of a sour family relationship, I don't think I'd struggled with anyone so profoundly.<br />
<br />
For a long time, I felt I'd forgiven him, and acted like it, too. In other words, I <i>went through the motions. </i>Meanwhile, I'd felt internally so cynically towards him that being near this friend made me quietly angry, or depressed, or confused or anxious by turns, and cordiality became increasingly more weighty a task in light of these feelings. I still couldn't find it in me to like or be comfortable with this person. It was stuck in my heart that there was <i>something wrong </i>with this man.<br />
<br />
When the 'list' conversation ended, I went about my work in a normal way, except my tasks were done one-handed, or operating smoothly around three stubborn fingers on my right hand. I could not, for the life of me, think of many people who truly got under my skin in more than a temporary way. Finally, in a lull, my manager burst out "Three what!? Three? Did you burn your hand? What are you doing with your three fingers?"<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://iconreader.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/icxc4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://iconreader.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/icxc4.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jesus' gesture understood:<br />
Somebody better look out!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I answered "I'm still counting" to her question, and "counting people I dislike" to the confused look it elicited from her. Confusion melted into laughter, and the whole kitchen clamored to tell me that "this list will get longer when you grow up." I tried to explain that I really just wasn't the type of person to hate or dislike others, and I really couldn't think of-- "Oh, no, wait, <i>four</i> people." They laughed at the irony of my forth finger joining the party in the middle of that insistent, tolerant sentence. I'd remembered, suddenly, the man who'd gotten me fired from my last job. The exercise wasn't fun anymore, and I really wasn't laughing.<br />
<br />
I'm realizing that this exercise represented something more than an instance of being rubbed the wrong way. Those "dislikes" were from people who had hurt me. Each of those three (and eventually four) fingers were proof that I was broken by someone, somehow. And that I'd let them dig barbs into my heart. Surprisingly my friend who'd led me wrong wasn't one of those four. In fact, I share'd the story of this friend precisely because of my shock and delight afterwards that he never came negatively to mind!<br />
<br />
<br />
With these people, I had known that I'd been wounded. What I didn't let myself know, for the longest, was that I had equally wounded myself. For almost a year I prayed for tolerance and strength, And, of course, for the bad effects of real or perceived betrayal to be overcome. But that wasn't all that I needed.<br />
<br />
With the friend who'd pushed me the wrong way, there was plenty unresolved. Before I'd let myself pray for strength, before I'd resolved to respect and re-befriend him, I'd been really, truly angry. That anger was like a double-edged spear that hurt myself as much as my relationship with him. I just didn't notice it among his 'wrongs' that I was stabbing myself, too. Putting down the spear wasn't enough.<br />
<br />
I'd stopped fighting, I'd made amends, I'd forgiven him. Finally, I let God mend me. A month ago that finally I prayed for healing. Immediately, the Lord reached in and plucked out my anger, destroying the grudge that I'd sworn to myself I'd let go of already. Although I had let go of begrudging actions, which was necessary, half can never be enough for healing. The rebellion that aggravated my feelings of grievance had remained until the whole of my hurt was given over to God.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c0/a4/20/c0a420dd92c0658387e03623f68013c1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c0/a4/20/c0a420dd92c0658387e03623f68013c1.jpg" width="249" /></a>The idea that the list would 'get longer' as I 'grow up' still seems absurd to me, although I understand how it will be harder to beat down as life goes on. Thinking over this past year, I'd say that learning to forgive and heal from busted relationships <i>was</i> 'growing up.' It makes me realize that I still have growing up to do, and that I'm still quite stunted by grudges I hold, even if the list doesn't span Rhode Island.<br />
<br />
I was fired from that old job in March, and yet I'm still upset at a man I met once in my life. I'm trying to be charitable, but for the life of me I would love to give him a piece of my mind, or perhaps of my shoe-- smartly placed-- <i>right now</i>. My mind can't even comprehend the things he did and got away with as anything but absurd; I'm still in "indignant victim" mode.<br />
<br />
But even if I can't feel it among the phantom wounds of how he hurt me way back, this anger is hurting me now. Its time I let Christ have this hurt, and the other three as well. if I can, I'd go through all the steps of forgiving like before. I can't exactly make amends, but its time to forgive. Now I hope God will forgive, and mend, me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-4913258076653822612015-08-21T23:53:00.001-04:002015-08-22T00:53:22.858-04:00Son of Thunder: Mary is Mother of God and Mother of the ChurchJared Clark, blogger at Son of Thunder, takes up the next part of Matt Slick's "<a href="https://carm.org/questions-for-roman-catholics" rel="nofollow">Questions for Roman Catholics</a>." He's provided thoughtful important question on the Blessed Mother, her place in Catholic spirituality, prayer, and the remission of sins. Here's a peek:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Jesus is, of course, capable on His own. However, He chose to become flesh through her, not only making her the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Theotokos</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">--"God bearer", or "Mother of God"--but also making her mother of the Church. Like the question on the sacraments, we shouldn't be asking if this is a competitor of the Lord, but if this is how He wants us to pray. He is our one mediator, yes, but in His mediation He wants us to pray for our neighbor and to ask our neighbor to pray for us.</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://sotaplogetics.blogspot.com/2015/08/answering-carm.html">Head over hear to read the rest.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-8598574531564934802015-08-18T21:45:00.002-04:002015-09-05T03:37:07.335-04:00Empty Cup<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333330154419px; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="left" class="norm" style="font-size: 10pt;"><h4>
an original poem by Helena Noel</h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
Long has the romance of the night<br />
Out-bloomed the morning rose,<br />
And kiss that midst of Winter warmed<br />
Has hearts, in Summer, froze.<br />
<br />
This, 'cause light of lover's heart<br />
Is easy to behold<br />
When Nature sings out dirges of<br />
The truth of dark and cold.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Though inner light is clearer seen<br />
When dark is all around<br />
Its also true, when lifted high,<br />
That clouds obscure the ground.<br />
<br />
That's why the man with nothing owned<br />
Has sight obscured by naught,<br />
While eyes are blind as gleam of gold<br />
Blocks out all careful thought.<br />
<br />
Note the hero of the hour<br />
Who sees through devil's bluff:<br />
He's oft the poor man, coarse and dour,<br />
The diamond in the rough.<br />
<br />
That's why the bards have long sung of<br />
The humble lifted up<br />
They know the fount of light will fill<br />
A dark and empty cup.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-size: 10.6666660308838px; text-align: -webkit-center;">© Copyright 2013 Helena Noel</b><span style="font-size: 10.6666660308838px; text-align: -webkit-center;"> (<a href="http://www.writing.com/main/portfolio/view/theepic95">theepic95 at Writing.Com</a>). All rights reserved. </span></td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Edwin_Austin_Abbey_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Edwin_Austin_Abbey_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3000001907349px; line-height: 21.2800006866455px; text-align: start;">1895 painting by Edwin Austin Abbey shows Arthurian knight Sir Galahad discovering the Holy Grail</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-65480311433079614112015-08-12T08:45:00.000-04:002015-08-12T08:45:00.251-04:00Salvation: Answering "Questions for Roman Catholics" <div style="margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">A little while ago, I stumbled </span><span style="line-height: 16px;">across a post entitled </span><a href="https://carm.org/questions-for-roman-catholics" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 16px;" target="">Questions For Roman Catholics</a> by Matt Slick. that I thought was worth a little attention. He asks quite a few questions, however, and so it was decided that, in order to ensure that they are answered with sufficient depth rather than flippancy, the task would be split among multiple bloggers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Tony Powers from <a href="http://thecatholicsense.blogspot.com/">The Catholic Sense</a> plans to talk about Interpreting Scripture and Scripture, and Carl Betts will be covering the Eucharist over at <a href="http://barqueofsaintpeter.blogspot.com/">Sailing on the Barque of Saint Peter</a>. Jared Clark is discussing Jesus, Mary and Prayer down at <a href="http://sotaplogetics.blogspot.com/">Sons of Thunder</a>. And lastly, Paul Hoffer shall be tackling the questions on Oral Tradition at his own blog, <a href="http://capriciousness.blogspot.com/">Spes mea Christus!</a> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Specifically, my focus is on the section regarding Salvation (or questions 29-33), which hopefully I answer with some sense of clarity right here. Expect the boys to join in with their thoughts soon. In the meantime, Onward!</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">___________________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">What is the saving Gospel?</span></b></h4>
</div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">This is a bit of an odd question, to me. “Saving Gospel” isn't really a phrase in popular parlance with most Catholics. But I believe he refers to the words of Paul in <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/13">1 Cor 15</a>:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">1Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. 2Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.</span></blockquote>
Paul encouraged his followers in Corinth to cling to the truth he shared with them, reminding them that Christ came, died and rose from the dead according to scripture, and was seen by more than five hundred witnesses. And continuing he says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; line-height: 22px;">12But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?</span></span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: arial !important; font-stretch: normal !important; font-weight: bold !important; left: -40px !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">13</span><span style="background-color: white; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px;">If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised.</span><span style="background-color: white; border-color: initial; border-style: initial;"><span style="color: #008061; font-family: arial;"> </span></span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: arial !important; font-stretch: normal !important; font-weight: bold !important; left: -40px !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">14</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; line-height: 22px;">And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.</span></span></blockquote>
The saving Gospel is the good news "Christ has risen!" and it has changed the fate of mankind forever.<br />
<br />
The fall, Adam's sin, was committed by man, and through it, and through his curse men are made to face mortality and death. It makes sense, then, that humanity would take part in reparation for this, and all our crimes against the father, and in the restoration of life It is through Jesus, the New Adam from which a new humanity sprung, because by his<br />
<br />
Restored, not just to life in the Garden such as the old Adam had, but life in Heaven before the throne of God, a sharing in the life of God himself. This is why Catholics sometime call the sin of Adam and Eve a "happy fault!" God's gift of Man's reconciliation to Him gave more of Himself to mankind than ever. Because the mercy and redemptive grace poured out by God in response to our rebellion open up the chance to raise humanity up, allowing for a sharing in a deeper life and more beautiful intimacy with the Father.<br />
<br />
We don't use the term "Saving Gospel" often, but the truth of this gospel is highlighted in the memorial acclimation at the Catholic mass, one of which goes "Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus come again!" When we bind our lives to the Body of Christ through worship, faith and obedience, we find that it is our sins that die with Him on the cross, and our souls that rise from the grave.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Are you keeping the commandments of God?</span></b><br />
<b style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">I strive to. I'm a sinner, and I fail. When I do I ask forgiveness and try to take each of His commandments to heart once again. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">This is more of a personal question, rather than a theological one about the Catholic faith, but let me see if I can broaden it to involve Catholic thought. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">When I say that "I strive to," I don't just mean that I try not to color outside the lines or break a technical law. I'm not just talking about following line by line the rules of the Ten laid down for Moses, or even the rules of my Church and faith, but to fulfill the purpose behind the Divine Law of God. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22:36">Matthew</a>, in the 22nd chapter of his Gospel tells of Jesus being questioned by the Pharisees on which commandment was the greatest:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: arial !important; font-stretch: normal !important; font-weight: bold !important; left: -40px !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 19px; width: 25px;">36</span>“Teacher,<a class="fnref" href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22#48022036-1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; display: inline-block; font-family: georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><sup style="border: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 2px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">*</sup></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> which commandment in the law is the greatest?”</span><span class="bcv" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: arial !important; font-stretch: normal !important; font-weight: bold !important; left: -40px !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; top: 19px; width: 25px;">37</span><span style="font-family: arial;">j He said to him,* “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 k The second is like it:* You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 * l The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”</span></blockquote>
The <i>whole law and the prophets</i> depend on these two, on love of God and love of neighbor. In other words, they summarize and are the reason for them all. This is more complex than just ditching one or all of the others in favor of some vague attempt at loving, rather, what this says to me when I break even the littlest among them, then, is that my heart has a deficit of love for God, or that I decided to place some want or desire above loving my neighbor. The smallest breaks in his commandments are <i>always</i> a failure to put love and trust of God above the little things in life, and the greatest sins are always a rejection of God's love, without which we cannot be saved.<br />
<br />
This means that I can't merely apologize, or just promise to do better. I do indeed try to do so, as the Act of Contrition <a href="http://www.ststephenchurch.org/sacraments/rec_overview/rec_contrition.shtml">confesses</a>: "I am heartily sorry for having offended you... " "...I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life..." But we must also recommit ourselves to love, always: "...most of all <i>because they offend you,</i> my God, who are all good and <i>deserving of all my love</i>."<br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Are you doing what is necessary to be saved? In Roman Catholicism that which is necessary for salvation includes the church (CCC 846), baptism (CCC 1257), penance (CCC 980), sacraments (CCC 1129), service and witness to the faith (CCC 1816), keeping the ten commandments (CCC 2036 and 2070), and detachment from riches (CCC 2556).</b></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">To answer, we need to remember that we are called to love God with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our strength. That translates quite simply to "with my whole life." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">If Jesus is the head of the Church, then we may never neglect His body. No person informed of the Gospel and knowledgeable of the invitation to new birth can reject baptism and be saved. Because of this, we must unite ourselves to the Body of Christ by being reborn through baptism. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">It means we cannot exist in rebellion and without penance, for that is a very rejection, and I must seek Him and His graces where ever they reside. My actions and words need to witness to God's glory, honor and keep His word, and be the very act of loving nothing above Him. Love wants nothing but the best for the beloved, and a Lord and Savior deserving of all my love would require all of what is best, in worship and obedience. </span></span><br />
<br />
We are told:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
22Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. 24He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. 25But the one who peers into the perfect law* of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.n 26* If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue* but deceives his heart, his religion is vain. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows* in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.(<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/james/1">James 1</a>)</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">I indeed strive to do all these duties he recites, and meet them as best as I can, or I forget my own salvation. Faith and witness and repentance and obedience, with elevation of God above all worldly things, are tackled in my life and actions with varying levels of heart and faithfulness. With failure and success. But this is not the whole of what the question is getting at. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Matt Slick asks this in the form of personal and direct question, but that's alright. It's also a little bit backwards, asking "Are you doing what is necessary to be saved?" </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Put that way, I would say, "Of course not!" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">It is clear, salvation is impossible unless we take the Lord into our heart, </span><i style="line-height: 16px;">all</i><span style="line-height: 16px;"> of our heart. As I alluded to earlier, it is by love or by sin that we accept or reject the graces of God. When the Church outlines the universal callings, the duties of all those who would cling to Christ, she is saying "You cannot reject these and still claim His graces." All these callings are </span><span style="line-height: 16px;"><i>necessary </i>for salvation, because Christ has laid these upon us.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">What he means to ask is, "can you be assured of salvation by doing what is necessary?" To which the answer is still no. Paul explains in <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/13">1 Cor 13</a>: </span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">"1 </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">If I speak in human and angelic tongues* but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">2 </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">3 </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing."</span></span></blockquote>
We gain nothing without love, and certainly not salvation. If it is possible to be blessed with the divine gifts and still fail in love, it is possible, then, to be dutiful and be loveless and faithless. The fact is, we humans are too inept at knowing our own hearts, we lie even to ourselves.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">I can do all things perfectly, and still not love of God, which is the means by which we open ourselves to his Saving Grace. </span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;"><b>If you are keeping the commandments of God, do you also go to confession?</b></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Yes, because I need it: all of fallen humanity does. I mean to say that I do go to confession, but this is because I keep the commandments in a broken, human, fallen way. I am not perfect! Sometimes I find that I haven't kept them at all. Would that my heart were always faithful. But of sin and of sickness we were told:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">14</span><span style="line-height: 16px;">Is anyone among you sick?* He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord,</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
</span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">15and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.*</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
</span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. (<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/james/5:14">James 5</a>) </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
</span></blockquote>
And<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
21[Jesus] said to them again,l “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
22And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,m “Receive the holy Spirit.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”(<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20:21">John 20</a>)</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">For venial sin, prayer and repentance are sufficient on their own for their remission, as long as prayer is heartfelt, with the intention to sin no more. Yet, confiding in the priest and asking for absolution, and his prayers, is a good way to grow spiritually. There isn't merely a forgiveness in confession, but forgiveness and a dispensation of grace.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">I'm not saying it's impossible not to sin, or impossible not to need confession. When I have confessed, I have no need to confess any longer. Not until or unless I fall away in some respect, large or small. I've found that, even when my sins are small sins, going to confession often helps me to combat them. Was I uncharitable? Shirking a responsibility? Unhelpful, or irresponsible with my time? Have I neglected diligent prayer? The grace from the sacraments fortifies the soul, and bring it closer to God. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;"><b>Since it is possible for you to lose your salvation in Roman Catholicism, are you doing enough good works to keep yourself saved?</b></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">This is based on the idea that it was ever possible to have or possess salvation to begin with. You are saved when you are in the Father's arms, and you are in his arms when you do His will, and declare his name, and hear his word. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Many protestants believe in Sola Fida, that is, that they are "saved by faith." And indeed, </span></span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;g</blockquote>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
9 it is not from works, so no one may boast.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
10 For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them. </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">But the key is, saved by faith through grace. Grace isn't something the can be forced upon us against our wills, and without our consent. God is a lover, not a brute, or cruel conqueror. He asks gently if he can be King of our Hearts, and we accede by accepting Jesus as Our Lord and Savior. </span><i style="line-height: 16px;">H</i></span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">ow</i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> we consent to being saved is a major question. It is not a matter of hitting the right points, but of plain, simple honesty. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">The problem? There are many ways to speak. Jesus knew this:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
28“What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
29He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
30The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
31* Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.(<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/21:28">Matthew 21</a>)</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">The first son rejected his father's command. He was not within the will of his father! But, only for a time. Eventually, he realized the sensibleness of the request, and did as he was told. The chief priest knew that he'd reconciled himself to his father's will by his actions. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">We speak, not just with out mouths, but with our whole self.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">It is for this reason that vocally accepting Jesus as you're personal Lord and savior cannot be a one-time thing, because we are made to live<i>,</i> not stagnate. The second son, simply put <i>lied. </i>He made a commitment, then backed out, rejecting what his father had asked of him. Your actions can make your faith a lie, if you let them.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br />When you say, "Jesus is Lord," you are attributing to him Lordship and authority. So when he says "Do unto others" or "forgive others" or "love your neighbor as yourself," it is your own word that obliges you to honor his command, lest you prove your word a lie by not going to the field. When we make small mistakes or commit small sins, we turn away from his sight. In grave and serious matters, if we knowingly choose sin over him, we reject him entirely, leaving our souls spiritually dead. (For which we have confession, where we speak our shame, and penance, where we act our remorse, pleading for forgiveness with our <i>whole </i>selves and not just words.) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Its not God who changes, or the grace that falls out of our pockets, but temporal and changing man who hold on to it one night and lets go of it the next with all the inconstancy of a mortal.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
We are not saved by good works, or keeping commandments, rather by accepting with His Grace with an honest desire that spills out into our deed. It's not a chore, but a joy! God's Word when placed firmly in your heart, spills out into your life, making you a 'doer' after being a 'hearer.'<br />
<br />
The truth is, I can only ever accept the freely given graces that bring me from dark into light. I can never earn or merit salvation. There is no magical number for "enough" and no heroic deed, no act of my own can wipe out the smallest of sins. I have sinned, and sinned against someone far too great for lowly me to make perfect amends. It is yet another case of humanity co-operating, and God giving more than they could ever me.<br />
<br />
I can only ask, "where is my heart, have I given it all to Him?" And never stop asking, never stop offering it, never stop loving my beloved in faith. The rest is up to Him.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-5850038969443404302015-08-09T16:03:00.001-04:002015-08-25T14:55:20.199-04:00Squalor and Abuse in Flordia Prisons: This is a Pro-life Issue!<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/florida-prisons/tbq85h/picture5350635/ALTERNATES/FREE_640/268866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/florida-prisons/tbq85h/picture5350635/ALTERNATES/FREE_640/268866.jpg" height="200" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">inmate Harold Hempstead</td></tr>
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Inmate Harold Hempstead reveals the horrible and inhumane conditions of Florida Prisons. <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/florida-prisons/article30490770.html">Miami Harold</a> reports that</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hempstead had already seen the inside of almost half of Florida’s 49 state-run prisons, and to him, Dade really wasn’t any worse than the others.</span>By that time, he said, he was used to seeing horrible things in Florida prisons: inmates being starved, beaten, sexually assaulted, mentally tortured by officers and gassed for no reason. Officers putting laxatives in inmates’ food, urinating on their clothing and toothbrushes and paying inmates to attack other inmates. Sick inmates begging for medical care, only to be told they were faking. Even basic necessities like soap and toilet paper were often rationed to make their lives more miserable."<br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
In mates of Dade were subject to all kinds of abuses, such being locked in a scalding shower. At least<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/florida-prisons/ktssxx/picture5350632/ALTERNATES/FREE_640/060954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/florida-prisons/ktssxx/picture5350632/ALTERNATES/FREE_640/060954.jpg" height="200" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">inmate Darren Rainey [deceased]</td></tr>
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one person, 50 year old Muslim inmate Darren Rainey, died as a result of this torture.<br />
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I read this and it breaks my heart. Mental and physical torture, systematic starvation, forcing prisoners to participate in the abuse of other inmates, and I'm not alone. When Hempstead was moved from Dade Correctional to another facility, psychiatrists at the new facility reacted with horror and disbelief, and less than a week refused to talk about the subject of Dade Correctional <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">with Hempstead any longer. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">He, and every other inmates brave enough to to report what was going on were met with bureaucratic walls at every turn. Often, even threats. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em;">This is not something a pro-life Christian can ignore! We know now some extent of the horrors of Flordia's prisons, but what about the rest of the US? Why aren't we demanding investigations and reviews everywhere? When the level of corruption and horror is this high, it's foolish to believe it's isolated. This was born out of a widespread culture of death and contempt, and prison guard culture of self-</span><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 25.5px;">righteous</span><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em;"> power. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 25.5px;">We joke about inmates. When we see or hear of someone convicted of a crime we laugh about all the fun they'll have on the inside. If they're poor, we joke that "now they'll be fed, courtesy of the state!" If they're sexual criminals, we have joked about prison rape. And when they finally get out and can't find a job, we quip "well you shouldn't have destroyed your life by being a criminal!" </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 25.5px;">But we don't really believe these jokes. Or, at least I hope to God no one really means them, because only a monster could laugh at this if they thought it really happens. The fact is, breaking into a house or taking drugs isn't what destroying a life looks like. <i><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/09/florida-prison-system-under-scrutiny-as-lawmakers-fight-to-keep-feds-out-and/">This is</a>, </i>and our taxes are paying for it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25.5px;">Even if some employers are willing to give second chances, many know that men can come out more messed up than when they went in. Does that sound like our goal here? Is that a legitimate method, to rehabilitate by breaking all scruples? Tell me, what lesson does having to mix and pour chemicals on the faces fellow inmates serve for when they get out?</span><span style="font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25.5px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 25.5px;">The state has had report after report after report, and only now are they looking into what's been going on. They can't be trusted to correct all these problems alone. We need to call for a congressional investigation into the system as a whole and federal investigation into the crimes of these correctional officers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 25.5px;">Raise a ruckus! And pray, don't forget to pray. Getting caught in the middle of a bad decision shouldn't mean that you're forgotten. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485163956784504215.post-1840569147713354362015-08-09T09:00:00.000-04:002015-08-09T09:00:04.614-04:00Towards The Heartbeat is on TWITTER!Expanding (somewhat) beyond this little cranny of the interwebs:<br />
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Follow to always see TtHB content! Thoughts to share or posts you wanna see? Get in touch w/ me via twitter! <a href="http://t.co/Ot5HsqEADR">pic.twitter.com/Ot5HsqEADR</a></div>
— Helena Noel (@NoelHelena95) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoelHelena95/status/630261694879637504">August 9, 2015</a></blockquote>
Strangely satisfying... <br />
And I'm always looking for other Christian bloggers to follow. If you know ones that you love that you think I should check out, please let me know!<br />
<br />(Seriously, people, message me! TtHB is a tiny, tiny corner and it's no fun sitting here alone.)<br />
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18011431337052325273noreply@blogger.com0