Furthermore…

One investigator to other at door of monastery as above a monk washes 2nd story window without ladder or support:

“I’m sure we’ll quickly disprove all these rumors of someone levitating here!”

I believe in being alert and seeing the life and culture around me through Christian (Catholic) eyes to recognize all the ways that the Christian view is upstaged by the secular, hedonist and relativist views. My ISP sends me a page with links to all kinds of ‘news stories’ every day that seem to play up to people caught up in a calculating, cult of the body life style, giving the impression that this is the kind of people at the center of everything and are to be catered to for that reason.

I found an informative ally in the email I receive from the Culture and Media Institute, a division of the Media Research Institute. Called CMI Culture Links, a current number has articles on ABC’s obsession with alternative sexual life styles, another entitled “When Dad Becomes a Woman,” and one questioning a TV glorification of teenage pregnancy.

It’s good to have a swamp buggy to observe and safely exit from all the steamy bugginess. The swamp dwellers wallow contentedly there, more than willing to have the rest of us dive in and call it home too.

Fuming magazine editor to staff:

“OK – who changed the words of my same sex marriage piece to Shame Sex?

I’ve seen some lists of the names of God, drawn from scripture I guess. The other day I came across a mention of “what God is expecting of us” and it struck me that ‘God the Expecting’ is an evocative title, even though it doesn’t have pedigree or provenance. Maybe one of my acquaintances who knows Hebrew will one day be able to express the title in that language for me, giving it a patina of authenticity.

Encountering a set of expectations, maybe a printed list or a placard on the wall is not a foreign concept to most grownups, especially those who have been married, gone to college, or joined an organized society. Like those of a spouse, God’s expectations might have to be intuited, although many have been clearly spelled out for us. A spouse might go around frowning or acting distant because certain expectations are not being met. In rare cases, the situation might be addressed explicitly, but that involves adopting the methods used in a college dorm — NO LOUD MUSIC AFTER 11 PM, ALL PAYMENTS DUE IN ADVANCE, or a playground — NO DOGS, NO RUNNING, NO SPITTING, etc.

God’s might list of expectations might include NO IGNORING ME, NO GETTING WRAPPED UP IN YOUR OWN THOUGHTS, NO PRIDE and, more positively, develop your love, faith, stewardship, appreciation, kindness, thankfulness and so much more. May the day never come when God says, judgmentally: “Sorry, you didn’t meet My Expectations!”

Sign in church lobby about wet floor:

DANGER!
SLIPPERY WET FLOOR
Also beware slippery slopes!

We talked about the reading for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, B Cycle, Jeremiah 23:, 1-6, Psalm 23: 1-6, Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 2:13-18, and Mark 6:30-34. I had it in my mind to mention something about the various ways I saw Paul’s words about “you who were far off and you who were near” were interpreted in different things I read. One meaning ascribed to them was the the Gentiles were the ones who were far off, and the Israelites were those who were near. Another take on it was that the Isrealites taken to Babylon were those far off, and those remaining in their own land with Jeremiah were those addressed as being near. A third sense was that those living in Jeremiah’s time were the near, and people living sometime in the future such as ourselves might be the ones ‘far off.’
Until I read these views, I thought he was referring to those distant spiritually from God, versus those spiritually close to Him. Or maybe he meant … … just kidding!

Catholic professor discussing evolution:

“The Church doesn’t totally disagree with Darwin, but it does teach the ascent, not the descent of humanity!”

I hear radio spots on Christian radio from the author of books on how peoples’ ‘love languages’ differ, so that one person feels loved when receiving gifts, while another gets the message best by being listened to, or whatever. He seem to have identified 5 varieties. Maybe the 5 can be subdivided and further subdivided, making room for near infinite variety. It brings to mind the commandment to love the Lord Our God with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind, and our whole strength. That’s God’s love language, what we must do so as to feel assured that He knows we love Him. But it’s hard to avoid the impression the more common approach is to love Him with part heart, etc. That’s all busy, modern people can summon up between keeping up appearances, the pace, and with the Jones’s. Do we get part credit, or no credit at all?

Starting with the assumption that one is not loving God wholly, but certainly in part, one wonders what would be required to make the transition to completeness. If worldly things are being given more importance than God, eclipsing Him, so to speak, perhaps what is called for is to see all things as created by God for His own purpose, that is, giving Him glory. One might admire, say, a sunset no less, but with new eyes see it as proclaiming and contributing, in its own way, to God’s glory. Likewise, moon, stars, success, riches, delicious food, and almost anyone or anything. Seems feasible.

Billboard:

God is not dead!

He is not DEAF either!

Two nuns were told to go across town by automobile. The senior sister, a nun of many years, was in charge, while the other sister was the youngest in the convent.

“Traffic is heavy this time of day,” said the old nun, looking a bit worried. “I’ll drive and you pray that the Lord sees us there safely.”

The young nun, a bit apprehensive about the sharpness of eyesight and quickness of reaction of her senior sister, but not wanting to call them into question, said, “Oh no, Sister. You pray so much better than I do! I’ll drive, and you pray!”