O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved,
in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your
Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you
are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pax
I have been taking piano lessons for seven months now. Each month I have to keep reminding myself that I have been playing piano for less than a year because I somehow think that I should be picking up the playing of this complicated instrument much more quickly than I am. I suppose the reason that I feel that way is that I have been playing the flute since I was ten years old, so I do have some background in music.
But let me tell you, playing one note at a time on the flute is a piece of cake when compared to playing chords and progressions and harmony with one hand and melody with the other. Add to that my dyslexic brain which thinks up when I see the notes going down on the page and foggettaboudit!!!!!
So, I plug away at the simple songs in my book and my amazingly compassionate teacher sits with me each week and tells me, "No dear you need to be using the third finger for that note," or "You should be playing a G there not an A." And I practice at my little keyboard and slowly the jumble of notes on the page begin to actually sound like songs!
Last week though I had a real breakthrough as I was practicing. Somewhere in the inner recesses of my mind, I realized that if I relaxed and let my fingers do what they were supposed to do because they are set up over the right notes when they are in the right position on the keyboard (something my teacher always stresses) then I really don't have to hunt and peck to play because if my hand is in the right place then my finger is on the right note.
Today at my lesson time I played a very slow, but not too mangled version of The Can Can and my hands knew exactly what to do when I had to change positions and my fingers were on the right notes most of the time.
I think I am gonna like playing the piano from now on.
Pax
I have spent 13 precious hours since Friday watching (or I should say re-watching) Brideshead Revisited the Granada Television mini-series from 1981. I had been looking for it in my parish video library; someone had it checked out since March and hadn't returned it yet. I had actually seen all of the episodes when they were originally shown on Public Television, but since then I have become reacquainted with Evelyn Waugh's writings and I couldn't remember how well the series had portrayed the characters as Waugh had written them.
So, when I found out that my parish video library had a copy of the DVD set I couldn't wait to see it again. But then, I had to wait, because every week when I went to check it was still not there.
Well, finally on Friday after Mass, my persistence was rewarded, and it had been returned. I tried to squeeze out an hour here or there over the weekend so that I could see each of the eleven episodes. Luckily today I was supposed to go out of town but my trip got canceled, so while I was doing laundry I got to watch the remaining episodes.
This was about as flawless a piece of adaptation as one could make from page to screen. I read somewhere that they had intended to do only 6 hours, but because of a strike that delayed production, after looking at what had already been shot, they decided to take advantage of the work stoppage and asked John Mortimer to expand the script to the final 13 hour epic. Having seen all 13 hours I can't imagine what they could have cut.
As a portrait of the Church there is so much that was left intact from the book. One can actually visualize Charles' journey from unbelief to belief, and how the Flyte family members represent points of attraction and revulsion to the Church for him. It really does represent the entire cross section of Catholics in the world in one family. Come to think of it, that same cross section of Catholics could probably be found in my own family, even dear sad Rex, whose insistent need to join the church led to his willingness to try to believe anything he was told.
It says on IMDB that there is another version in development, set to come out in 2008. I can't imagine why anyone would consider trying to remake something that was so well made the first time around.
Anyway, now that I have seen the mini-series again, I suppose I will have to get out my copy of the book and re-read the novel. Ah, what joy.
Pax
Today I was involved in Terrorist activity.
I pray that my sincere wish, combined with that of all of my co-conspirators will change the hearts and lives of the women and men who are involved in the abortion industry, as well as those who come to seek abortion. I pray that those who feel that abortion is their only choice will be moved to see through this deception and seek other solutions to the situation in which they find themselves; a solution that doesn't involve the taking of an innocent human life. | Your Famous Last Words Will Be: |
 "What we know is not much. What we don't know is enormous." |
You may not at first glance recognize this actor. I have known about Tom Wilson as an actor for quite a while and have admired his work in Movies and Television. I even saw him on Life on the Rock on EWTN talking openly about his faith and how he and his wife live and are raising their four children as Catholics in Hollywood. There is much to admire about the way this man has lived his life as an actor, but that is only part of who he is. What you might not know about Tom Wilson is that he is a very funny comedian. I first heard him do comedy as a guest on the Bob and Tom Show.
"You will find that you cannot divorce your faith from your public service," Steele said, as the audience, primarily composed of parents who home-school their children, applauded. "There can be no conflict between God's will and my duty as a public servant." . . .
"You can't please everyone, but you can certainly make them all mad at you at the same time," Steele said, as the audience chuckled. "As an African-American Catholic Republican, I'm pretty good at ticking everyone off." . . .
"You can't be a sign of contradiction and be 'personally opposed, but ... ,'" Steele said, referring to Catholics who oppose abortion but do not take an anti-abortion political stance. "You have to be a sign of contradiction in moments like that."
Steele criticized Catholic politicians who support policies that violate the church's teachings on issues such as "the degrading of holy institutions like marriage."
1) Choose a topic on which to ruminate, and then spend an inordinate amount of your time and energy refuting what previous philosophers and schools of thought have had to say on the particular subject.
2) Make sure to use as many polysyllabic words as possible, and the more syllables the better. This will serve two purposes, it will not only make you sound intelligent but make it harder for the less informed to refute your claims for fear of seeming stupid. (I refuse to admit how often I had to use a dictionary in order to read even the idiots guide)
3) Circular logic is often necessary in this form of writing. Embrace your inconsistencies with conviction. If you own them they will stand at least until the next guy refutes them in his(her) writings.
OR Why I Love This Pope So Much:
A quote from a message at the vigil at the fifth world meeting of families in Valencia, Spain:
"To promote the values of marriage does not stand in the way of fully experiencing the happiness that man and woman encounter in their mutual love," he noted. "Christian faith and ethics are not meant to stifle love, but to make it healthier, stronger and more truly free Â…"
he continued. "Human love needs to be purified and to mature if it is to be fully human and the principle of a true and lasting joy."
VALENCIA, Spain,JULYY 9, 2006 (Zenit.org).-
He should have been wearing a Fight Hedonism T-shirt while he was giving that message. I think that has been the message we have received from our last two Popes. We need to rise above the hedonism of this world and reclaim true love for its intended purpose.
Later in the message B16 goes on to say:
"this meeting(world meeting of families) provides a new impetus for proclaiming the Gospel of the family, reaffirming the strength and identity of the family founded upon marriage and open to the generous gift of life, where children are accompanied in their bodily and spiritual growth."
He concluded saying "this is the best way to counter a widespread hedonism which reduces human relations to banality and empties them of their authentic value and beauty."
Preach it Papa, if only the world would listen!
Pax
