Rabid Fandom

I am finding that in the aftermath of the Lost finale last night there are many on the social network sights that are inconsolable or are not taking well to being teased for their attachment to a show that I never quite got in its six year run.  Fans of Lost show it a reverence that is a bit bizarre in my book and are bereft that it is gone. 

Don't get me wrong, I love television. I especially love good writing, and was very upset when some of my favorite shows were cancelled, (I actually wrote to the network to try to get them to reconsider the cancellation of Joan of Arcadia), but I have never been one to analyze an end of show episode the way these folks have.  It is almost spooky.  I made what I thought was a harmless joke as a comment on one person's sight and he lashed back at me and called me intolerant for mocking his love of the show.

I wonder if these same fans are upset with Jimmy Kimmel for his series of  Lost the"alternate endings" one of which I hear includes a surprise appearance by Bob Newhart.  I didn't see those either, but I bet they were funny even if you hadn't ever seen the show. 

Maybe I have a different perspective on the whole thing because I am a writer myself and I realize that all of the things these people are hotly debating are just stuff that somebody made up (as my husband says).   In the grand scheme of things it just doesn't matter.   Tomorrow, or next week, or next season a new show will come around and people will like it or they will find it oddly familiar in style.  Then they will notice that the  people who wrote for the show they were crying over the demise of last season are now writing for this new show.  Life will go on.

Pax

A Good Read

I have it on good authority that this book is really good.  I am not just saying this because the author happens to be one of my absolute favorite Grad School professors. 

Ryan was our Pastoral Ministry professor at St. Meinrad.  He is a Psychologist who graduated from West Point. He is the most soft spoken yet intimidating man (I am only half joking here) I have ever met.  He taught me so much about myself and how to be a good minister to others in the time I was in his class that I can never thank him enough.  He also made me want to be a better writer by making me cry, but that is another story for another day.  He continually encourages me to write and share my gift of writing .

His writing is very engaging and the subject matter is very interesting.  I would encourage you to read it if you have any interest in emotional maturity. 

Pax

What I Learned From Walking 13.1 Miles

So, most of you know that I trained to walk in the Festival 500 Mini Marathon last weekend.  I finished!!! in just over 4 hours.  It was the most excruciating, amazing thing I have ever done.  I know that I would have been so much faster if I hadn't gotten sick in February and March, but I kept at it, and even though I never quite got back the speed I had built up in early February I never gave up.

I met a woman in the corral before the race and we walked the entire way together. Without her support and companionship I don't know that I would have been able to finish.  When I was out of steam she gave me what she had left, and I did the same for her. 

We had one bad patch, just after we entered the Speedway.  We made the mistake of stopping for a pit stop at what we thought was the designated place, and we waited for almost 15 minutes to use the "facilities".  It turned out that there were plenty of "potties" just past the bathrooms where we stopped.  What a waste of our time. 

Mrangelmeg ran the race and finished in an amazing time of 1:41.  I am so proud of him.  He is ready to start training for a marathon.  I will be right there to cheer him on if he does run in a marathon, but I think 13.1 is the longest distance I ever want to go.

I will admit that this was probably the best run event I have ever seen, and except for the very cold weather, was a lot of fun.  You should give it a try.

I also want to give a big shout out to all of my classmates from Terre Haute South Vigo High School class of '78  we might be 50, but we are fabulous, and still BRAVE!  Saturday proved that.

Pax

What Catholics Can Learn from Kierkegaard

Of all the philosophers I read while I was studying for my MA degree, the one that I comprehended the most ( HA, the one I comprehended at all) was Soren Kierkegaard.

This article gives great insight into my understanding of how Kierkegaard viewed faith.


my favorite nugget of wisdom from the article is :

All in all, although Kierkegaard was not a Catholic, he reminds us that the monastic life is a shining example of how Catholics ought to approach their faith. Not by calling for all Catholics to take official vows or wear robes, but calling us to remember that at the heart of it all is a personal Divine Being who is worthy of and desires our simple, personal, and passionate commitment.

Pax

This is . . . well . . . Awesome! The Only Four Chords You'll Ever Need

These guys are The Axis of Awesome, a comedy group from Australia. Warning they drop a few F-bombs, but the experience so much fun. Wish they would come to the USA.

You've Got Dragons-- Feast of St. George

Today our Calendar celebrates the feast of St. George. Patron Saint of England, and fighter of a dragon, or so the story goes.

Fr. had a really good homily about that today at the children's mass. You see, the story says that the dragon lived outside the town and the only way the townsfolk could get to their water supply was to "feed the dragon"; first sheep, but then when the sheep supply ran out they began to feed it their children. They cast lots to decide which children would be fed to the dragon.

Fr. said that the dragon was a metaphor for all the evil things that take away the good in our lives. We have to "feed the evil" and it continues to thrives so long as we feed it. It becomes more destructive and more greedy, asking more and more of us.

St. George didn't kill the dragon though. He tamed it. He told the people that there was only one way that the dragon would flee from their homeland, never to return. They had to accept Christ as their savior and be baptized, for Christ has promised that nothing that is His will ever be lost. (John 18:9). The story goes on to say that thousands were converted on that day and "the dragon" was never a problem for them ever again.

A while back one of our instructors read a children's book that made this exact point. It was called You've Got Dragons, by Katherine Cave and Nick Marland.

What are "the dragons" in your life that you must feed? If you simply turn this over to Jesus, and trust that He will protect you, can you have faith that your dragons will be tamed, and then sent away?

Something to ponder.

Pax

Prayers for Pope Benedict XVI

The Knights of Columbus have called for a Novena (nine days ) of prayers for support of Pope Benedict XVI beginning today and ending on April 19th. Each day, join us in saying the prayer below:

PRAYER FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI
Lord, source of eternal life and truth,
give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit
of courage and right judgment, a spirit
of knowledge and love. By governing
with fidelity those entrusted to his care,
may he, as successor to the Apostle
Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your
Church into a sacrament of unity, love
and peace for all the world. Amen.

V/ Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.
R/ May the Lord preserve him,
give him a long life,
make him blessed upon the earth,
and not hand him over
to the power of his enemies.

V/ May your hand
be upon your holy servant.
R/ And upon your son,
whom you have anointed.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
In Solidarity With Our Holy Father
Adapted from Manual of Prayers
16000 4-10

Owl City artist on his faith

Owl City artist on his faith.

I heard Sean from the Air1 morning show read this on the air this morning and it brought tears to my eyes. These are the artists we need to support. My 13 year old daughter brightens up immediately when she hears his music come on the radio. He is truly glorifying God and sharing his love of creation through his music.

And what makes it nice from a parent's standpoint: not a single objectionable lyric in it at all.

Pax

Breaking Through

I had to write a paper for my Theology of the Trinity class that I took at St. Meinrad this semester. I was really worried about it because I have had writer's block since early last fall (as you can tell from my relative silence on my blog). I really wondered if I was going to be able to come up with anything of substance to say and tried three or four times to start an essay.

As last week moved along I really wondered if I was going to come up with anything. Then on Thursday morning I got an inspiration and sat down at my computer and came up with an introductory paragraph that actually sounded pretty good. After that, I began to put the threads in place, and I began to see a pattern emerging. As each strand of thought wove through the narrative, the piece became stronger. All the elements began to tie together in a way that had flow and resonance.

When I looked it over and moved a few paragraphs around and read through it in the finished form it actually gave me that fluttery, goose bumps feeling that I used to get when I wrote a good essay. That sort of feeling that comes from a place of awe as you read and think " did that actually come from me?" For the first time since last August I had written something I was really proud of having produced.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my joy with all of you. Hopefully, now that my writer's block is over I will be writing more on here than the short pieces I have been sporadically adding in the last few months. I am going to submit the essay I wrote for my Trinity class to Presence, the Spiritual Director's Journal and see if they will publish it. (yep, I really think it is that good.) If they do, I will post it here for you all to read.

Stay tuned, I will be writing more in the weeks to come. I have my passion for writing back.

Pax

One To Watch

My last year at St Meinrad I had the misfortune of taking philosophy classes with a young man who was a Glenmary Missionary preparing to enter the seminary. Where I was ending my gradual school time, he was collecting enough philosophy credits so that he would be allowed to enter the seminary in the fall.

Well, a year and a half ago Aaron Wessman did just that. He now isnot only a Glenmary Missionary but also a Seminarian at St. Meinrad School of Theology and has begun to share his reflections on his seminary time and his missionary work in a blog.

You can find it here:

Cognition of a Roman Catholic Missioner

I think if you want an interesting and refreshing look at what goes on in a semianry through the eyes of a Missionary seminarian you should be reading this blog. I have added it to my sidebar.

Spread the Word Wednesday

Today is the official day of the week to spread the word about my new favorite comic strip:

Knocking on Heaven's Door.

If you used to like Calvin and Hobbes you will really like the wonderful adventures of Spencer and his best friend God. Spencer's family are very multi-dimensional. His parents are bemused but trying to be good examples for him and his little sister Ruby. Each week we get three new bits of what life is like for this family.

I hope you all come to enjoy it as much as I have.

Nate and Tommy are doing a really great job. but don't just take my word for it, my 13 year old daughter is a huge fan and can hardly wait until the next installment comes out.

Pax

Day 11

My nephew Ben is recovering slowly from the skiing accident which happened eleven days ago. He went through a really bad patch over the weekend when his lungs were infected due to a nick that happened during a procedure to place a feeding tube when he first got to the hospital. Now he is awake, breathing on his own and talking to his parents.

There is a Facebook group Praying for Ben Smith that has 613 members already of friends of Ben's and friends of ours and friends of friends all pledged to help by praying for him. This just shows the power of prayer to uphold Ben and his family in their time of need. Ben has a long road of recovery ahead of him, but with that much prayer support backing him up, he has what he needs to get stronger every day.

Thanks to all of my friends who have pledged their prayer support for my sister Jeanne and her family as they live through this precarious time.

Pax

Because a Scooby Do Ending Makes Everything Better

And because I know you want more, click on the cartoon to get to the Doug Savage weblog of sticky note fun.

Pax

A Few Reasons Why I Didn't Give up Facebook for Lent

There has been a huge push among Catholic Facebook users to give up their Facebook presence for the 40 Days of Lent as part of their Lenten Sacrifice. They see this as a way to strip away the "distraction" that Facebook may have become in their lives so that they can redirect that time toward God.

I did not join them. There are a few really important reasons why and I wish to share them with you:

Most of my extended family; all but three of my siblings, most of my nieces and nephews, my cousins, their husbands, wives, and children are all on facebook. As we have grown older and become separated geographically, Facebook is an immediate and very fun way to communicate and keep in touch with my family. I probably reply to my Cousin's daughter whom I have never met, but who is a college student in Texas every day. It is really nice that I have gotten this chance to get to know her. I would hate to give that up.

My nephew was in a skiing accident last Saturday and I have been able to ask all of my friends on Facebook to pray for him, and to connect them to his Facebook page Praying for Ben Smith where they can post prayers for him. There is such power in this for his family who are dealing with a long road to recovery. I have great friends and they are really stepping into the breach to show my sister and her family the power of Christian community on the Internet via Facebook.

I am also posting a snippet every day from the book I have chosen to use as my Lenten Reflection: Quantum Grace by Judy Cannato. The obedience of doing this every morning is helping me to stay faithful to my reflection on the book and has the ripple effect of sharing a bit with others (Catholic , non Catholic Christians, and non believers ) who are friends of mine on Facebook. To me this is a way for me to evangelize.

So, you see, I will be staying on Facebook. I will be posting daily updates about my nephew's progress as he heals of his injuries, and I will be posting my own progress as I move through the season of Lent. Oh and I will be posting responses to other people's posts in my normal, sarcastic, humorous style, because God gave me a sense of humor and I am pretty sure She doesn't want me to give that up for Lent.

Pax

What He Said!

Everyone seemed to universally love the Doritos ad at the Superbowl that depicted the "tough" little boy. Everyone thought it was hilariously funny. Well I didn't, but my objections ran much deeper than that. I was livid after seeing that commercial, and for exactly the reasons spelled out in this wonderful article by Dennis Prager.

my favorite excerpt is this:

Those who argue that the boy was just defending his mom may well be right. But that only further reinforces the point of what a dysfunctional scene the ad was portraying: A leering man, a mother dressed in a sexually provocative way, and a sexually aware child who essentially serves as man of the house at the age of five.



Read it here.


So, call me a prude if you want, but give me the Betty White ad any day of the week.

Pax

Bye Bye Bayh

from the Senate anyway.

Evan Bayh is going, going, gone baby gone from the Senate as of the end of his current term of office. Why did he decide not to run again when he had $13 Million already socked away in his reelection war chest? Maybe it was just that he took a look at what has been happening on the political landscape and decided he would rather bow out gracefully than lose, which is something he has never had to face as a political candidate in his three runs for office.

I can't say I will be sad to see him go, but this will make our Senate race all that more interesting depending on who runs as a Democrat against Dan Coates next year.

Pax

The Truth Will Make You . . .

Slow?

So, I was reading a few Mini Marathon training message boards over the weekend and one of them was discussing the Nike + training module which happens to be the one I use to help me track my progress when I train. There is a little computer chip in my shoe that connects wirelessly to my IPod and it keeps track of my distance and pace and stuff like that so that I don't have to think about it.

What the message board was saying was that NIKE + has a real problem with calibration though and if you aren't careful can really get off track. So just to be safe I did three- one mile calibration walks on the track at the YMCA today to calibrate my NIKE+.

The good news is that the miles were no problem at all, I wasn't winded and my IT problem in my leg didn't flair at all even when I went full out for the middle mile just to test how fast I could really go.

The bad news is that each of the miles was a little bit off; meaning when my IPod said I was done with my mile I wasn't quite done with the seventh lap on the track. so when I completed the seventh lap I had to hit the calibration button each time to make it right. The first time it was way off. The last time it was actually a little bit over a mile.

So I finally think I have it right, but with the calibration being that touchy, I wonder just how accurate it really is. It added back all of the time I thought I had gained in my per-minute splits, so maybe I am not really getting as fast as I thought I was and what I was doing was not quite walking as far as I should have been.

Oh well. now that I know that about the IPod NIKE + I will just have to be more dillegent about calibration, especially when I start training outside on the road in the spring.

Just goes to show, you keep learning new things when you start a new activity.

Pax

Champions for Life

This Video is Awesome:

Champions For Life from American Life League on Vimeo.

It's Time to Show Your True Colors . . .

And Bleed Blue!

I may have mentioned that THE COLTS ARE IN THE SUPERBOWL on Sunday.

I am so excited I can hardly wait. I am again having the fashion dilemma of how to pair my official Jeff Saturday Jersey with dress slacks for Mass. Because I have to support my team.

I also have a huge amount of admiration for this team and the way they have acted. They don't trash talk, they are very humble about why and how they got to where they are, and they really deserve to be in this game.

Another thing that has always impressed me about this team is that they have a team of Chaplains to support the spiritual needs of the entire team, not just one guy who is a figure-head for show. I have had he privilege of meeting the Catholic Chaplain on that team, and I know that he takes his job very seriously as the "surrogate pastor" for the ten Catholic players and their families and the Catholic support staff.

You can read all about him, and his impression of the team in this article.

Fr. Pete has been blessed to have a great job doing what he loves for a team he loves.

I just hope that no one gets hurt on Sunday, and if they do their best the Colts pull out one more Victory this year and we bring that beautiful trophy home again.

Pax

Wow, What She Said!

This article is a very reasoned response to the movie The Pregnancy Pact that was on Lifetime last week. I watched the movie and was impressed with the message.

The article explains why we as Catholic parents hold our children to a higher standard of moral life than society expects for people of their same age level. But it also holds us accountable for the responsibility of a constant dialogue with our children, so that they understand why the moral choices that we are asking them to make are the right choices.

One of the most powerful statements in the article is this:

The idea that these messages should be impressed on our daughters in a unique way will raise some eyebrows. Shouldn't the message be stressed equally with boys and girls? Although boys are responsible for their sexual choices, the lion’s share of the consequences of misused sexuality usually falls squarely on young women. Therefore, the girl must set the pace of the relationship, knowing that their ability to bring life into the world carries a singular responsibility. Only she can choose - a choice that begins not with whether to become a parent, but whether to become sexually active.

read the rest of the article here.

These conversations aren't easy but they must become part of our daily life with our children, so that they can understand that we know how difficult it is, but we have faith that God will give them the strength to make the right choices.

We also have to let them know that no matter what, we will always love them and support them, because like God our love comes without conditions. Besides, if we are pro-life then we love the child regardless of the circumstances of conception.

I think I'm going to go talk to my daughters.

Pax