What is art these days?

New York City Waterfront Reflections Series "A bit of red" Series
By G. Christeas

Interesting piece on abstract art.

I'll share my thoughts another time. Right now, I have try harder to focus.

Stephanie

Total lunar eclipse

...the next one isn't until 2010, so check it out if you can! http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/02/20/lunar.eclipse.ap/index.html

In North America (Canada & the US), the Total Eclipse takes place during:

Newfoundland ~ 11:30 p.m. - 12:21 a.m. // Atlantic ~ 11:00 - 11:51 p.m. // Eastern ~ 10:00 - 10:51 p.m. // Central ~ 9:00 - 9:51 p.m. // Mountain ~ 8:00 - 8:51 p.m. // Pacific ~ 7:00 - 7:51 p.m.

Courtesy of AmericanPapist

Water music (And I'm not talking about Handel)

Really one of the most amazing things I've seen in a while.

Black and White, and All the Shades of Grey

I'm going to go there and bring up this story, and I pray as I write this to express myself with charity. I feel that I ought to have some element of surprise when these pop up in the news, and I'm a little disturbed at the decreasing sensitivity in my reactions. I think it is because it follows so well with the ways that post-modern culture has re-defined Truth, Freedom, and generally what is Acceptable and Good decision-making. I could go in about a hundred different directions with this (and invoke a hundred different angry responses from the relativist' crowd). I think what is ultimately highlighted here is how abiding to one's feelings as Dogma, Morality begins to unravel, forcing us into another realm of 'What now?' where society places its efforts in assuaging the situation ex post facto, Ie, 'What's the most ethical and compassionate way to introduce your [alreadydeterminedtobehealthyandgood]'Open marriage' to your children? What are the methods of choice these days?' The solution from a psychologist: "I might say something like, 'Mom and Dad still love each other very much... but we have a need to be close to other people. Some people have relationship where it's okay to live with someone and also be close to other people." After all, the "...relationship can be different from everyone else's, and if it works for you in your heart, that's what you do." Or how 'bout "Even if you have an open marriage, and you go out swinging, it's not something you necessarily tell your children." Is it just me or is someone missing the pink elephant in the room here?! So what do they want us to conclude? I'm hearing this: 'By all means give yourselves the option to explore new realms [swing] if you must follow [Serve the God of] your heart [carnal desire], but don't tell your kids about it, it might be psychological damaging.....they're not ready to understand such 'nuances' of Adult relationships...give them time, and they will surely understand what love means eventually..."

Suppose now I said: The institution of marriage and family life is being shaken at its foundation!

[What a narrow-minded, backwards-thinking, religiously-righteous, itolerant and judgmental thing to say! How dare you! ]


The "Both of us are free to do whatever we choose" phenomenon of mixed-orientation marriages is effectively stripping the essence of the marital vow (Fidelity anyone? Is there going to be paperwork for the option of this - after Compromise was discussed? Maybe after the prenuptial agreement???????). What if in a mixed-orientation marriage, one individual wants to have children and the other doesn't ? Should she pursue IVF - or perhaps, given the stipulations of an Open relationship, another relationship in which to have a child? What role would the father have in the 'marriage' ? Should the spouse have any say in whether his partner can pursue having children 'outside of the marriage' ? What of the relationship of current children with new people their parents get involved with? Should this all happen only if they are getting serious about it? How serious can extraneous relationships outside the real marriage get? Should these issues be discussed up front or as they come along? ......Is it not curious that there always seems to be a backlash of about 1,000 "WHAT NOW" questions to address, leaving some with Deer in the Headlights looks -but proponents of any and all Acclaimed Expression of Freedoms will not be shaken by it.

Then the relativist brandishes his most prized weapon - the now fashionably quotable biblical verse from Matthew 7:1, "Judge not that ye be not judged!" It comes out almost as a reflex, as if it is the Shield Against Everything that is in disaccord with their personal lives. The commonplace misuse of this passage certainly doesn't match up in Matthew 7:6, 1 Cor 2:15, or Prov 31:9. And that's just to mention a few.

I digress for a moment to contemplate on a World Without Judgement:
-
Criminals of any kind - murderers, drug traffickers, rapists - all would wander about freely doing as they please.

No discipline of children, no guidelines for how to make decisions - apart from saying they should follow whatever they think is right.

Education systems could not be standardized or structured in any way. No one could be forced to be educated formally or at all. There would be no way to account for satisfactory performance.
----

How does this make sense if I am a believer in freedom of thought, speech, and religion?

I am simply challenging what freedom really means to society today, in our culture and around the world. Is it really doing anything and everything we want without regard for the consequences to ourselves or others? What are our judgements based on? Our feelings? Collective experience? Or something more than that? Are we all not seeking some fundamental element of purpose that connects all of humanity? Why do we even talk of 'humanity' or the 'human family' if there is not in fact something that unifies us?

---
What we need not is a cold acceptance of the world as a compromise, but some way in which we can heartily hate and heartily love it. We do not want joy and anger to neutralize each other and produce a surly contentment; we want a fiercer delight and fiercer discontent. We have to feel the universe at once as an ogre's castle, to be stormed, and yet as out own cottage , to which we can return at evening.
No one doubts that an ordinary man can get on with this world...[But] can he hate it enough to change it, and yet love it enough to think it worth changing?
-G.K. Chesterton
---

St. Valentine's Day

...has been distorted into a celebration of the over-sexed consumer-driven diamondsareforever 50Ksuprise recreational car gifting culture. Pardon my cynicism, I just get tired of hearing the advertisement for the new 8GB Ipod "now in Pink - just in time for Valentine's" (aka buyyoursweetie/currentlover an expensive toy or you won't get any tonight) Day. Even ads for White Castle are sexifying their burgers. Seriously.

Maybe some will categorize me as one of those bitter Catholic women who sadly has been brainwashed and bound under the feet of men, then forced to adhere to the mysogynistic and archaic doctrines of the Church - among these values -modesty and chastity- the active practice of which is considered in modern-culture to be peculiar and anomalous at best, and at worst, a sign of psychological disorder and an attack on the radical feminist movement (which is struggling to "liberate" us from stifling clothing and the chains of unwanted pregnancies).

What baffles me more, is the ultimate irony of the pro-choice ideology: that women empowerment is equated with unrestricted choice for what to do with their bodies. So, let's say, there is someone who is pro-choice and says they would personally never have an abortion, because they believe it is murder. If said person believes they would keep the child should they get pregnant, and yet supports others who would choose the alternative - to abort - the foundation of her conviction of human life at conception is shattered and broken. And thusly, her perogative to protect life is grossly limited to her own body- since by the Choice-credo, it would not be fair to mess with others' business. If she were really convinced that human life begins at conception, she would fight to uphold her belief, and protect it, irregardless if the life were in her womb or another's! After all, isn't murder...murder?

From modern relativist's perspective, the woman who chooses to abort, the woman who chooses not to abort, and the woman who lets others abort, can all live harmoniously in the world - living out their respective truths without any consequence on the other. If we all have an unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, this relativists' scenario is LOGICALLY impossible. When matters of morals are dissolved into watery pools of yours and mine, responsibility and accountability can no longer exist. What a scary world to live in - not being allowed to care what's going on - or justify doing anything about it - since of course, that would be an attack on freedom!!! The modern culture of today, with its impetus for 'Progress' is only furthering the objectification and exploitation of women, fueling the fire of discrimination, and denigrating the instrinsic value and meaning of Life.

"...If we try to hoard our love, we will end up with nothing, for love cannot exist in the same space as possessiveness, dependency, or selfishness. The very essence of love demands that we give it away."
-Woodeene Koenig-Bricker

RR needs support

Winter Pledge drive February 11-17.
Bridging the gap between faith and everyday life.

Operation Rice Bowl

A wonderful apostolate to remind us of the spirit of almsgiving.


Week 1: Guatemala

The first stop in our Lenten pilgrimage is the rural village of
Chanjule in Guatemala where we will meet Felipa Pérez. When
Hurricane Stan destroyed Chanjule's water system in 2005, it left the
villagers without clean water for two months. Community members such
as Felipa and her family helped build their new system from the ground
up, laying pipeline for distribution, constructing latrines, wash
basins, and the sewage system, and installing faucets in every home.

Bordered by El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras and Belize, Guatemala is
home to more than 12 million people  the largest population in Central
America. The country struggles with a high unemployment rate.
Approximately 76 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a
day. That makes it especially vulnerable to the effects of natural
disasters, such as Hurricane Stan, which took thousands of lives in
2005.

Pray

Lent has barely begun, and already we're reminded of the temptation
that snaps at our heels, even as we try to walk a journey of
repentance, self-sacrifice and prayer.  In Sunday's Gospel we heard
the familiar story of the temptation of Jesus in the desert, as the
devil seeks to weaken Jesus' ability to love God with his whole heart,
with all his soul and with all his might. In his earthly ministry
Jesus expressed his deep love for his Father through his deep love of
people, especially those whom society had forgotten.

Each year during hurricane season the world holds its breath as a new
batch of storms takes aim at coastal countries. With a new threat each
year, it is tempting to forget those still trying to recover from the
storms of previous years. But since the poor are hardest hit by these
natural disasters, it often takes them years to recover.

As you begin your Lenten journey, reflect on the temptations that
weaken your awareness and concern for people in poverty. Ask the God
of the poor to raise your awareness of poverty and its root causes,
and seek out ways to participate in God's healing work.

Fast

With the presence of well maintained public water systems in the
United States, it's easy to take the benefits of clean water for
granted. Water from the tap means no one must haul the family water
supply from the closest stream. Complex water purification systems
keep water-borne diseases at bay.  And yet this is a resource that can
be so easily compromised by overuse, by toxic run-off from our roads
and farm fields and by the chemicals that are dumped into streams and
oceans. It is a global system, and what we do to the water quality in
our own communities can harm water systems across the world.

In solidarity with all those whose water supply is in constant threat,
make a commitment to care for the water sources that you benefit from.
Limit overuse of water by installing low-flow shower heads. Don't
leave the water running when brushing teeth or doing the dishes. Don't
flush prescription medicines down drains or toilets. Use filtered tap
water instead of purchased bottled water to limit the pollution caused
by plastic packaging.

Learn

When the people of Chanjule wrote to Catholic Relief Services
requesting help to restore the village water system, CRS and its
partner Caritas responded with financial and technical assistance.
Creating accessible and stable supplies of clean water is a key to
strengthening community health, improving agricultural production and
increasing opportunities for women and girls, whose access to
education and work can be limited when they must spend so much time
hauling water from far-away water sources. Catholic social teaching
reminds us that "stewardship of the Earth is a form of participation
in God's act of creating and sustaining the world. In our use of
creation, we must be guided by a concern for generations to come."
(USCCB Administrative Committee, Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call
to Political Responsibility, p. 15).

Give

According to the University of Nebraska's water center, the average
American pays about $2 for 1,000 gallons of water. Five gallons cost
about a penny. The average American uses about 60 to 100 gallons a
day. Consider the work that the members of the village of Chanjule put
into restoring their own water system. Put $2 in your Rice Bowl in
solidarity with those who do not have the luxury of a 10-day stretch
of clean water piped into their homes.

Visit The Operation Rice Bowl Web Site

http://orb.crs.org/

Operation Rice Bowl is the official Lenten program of Catholic Relief
Services, and calls Catholics in the United States to reach out in
solidarity with the poor around the world through the traditional
Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, learning, and giving. By
participating in these four activities, we come to understand our call
to be a part of one global community.

The Third Jesus?

Another reason to be careful about the various new-age-esque 'Christian spirituality' books out there.

Excerpted from Deepak Chopra's latest book, The Third Jesus:

"...And finally, there is the third Jesus, the cosmic Christ, the spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. He speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience, to attain what some might call grace, or God-consciousness, or enlightenment. "

Editorial Reviews:
"'God created man and woman in His image,'a biblical poet reminds us. Deepak Chopra has returned the compliment."

[WOWW, did he just say that?]

"Jesus can't be contained within stultifying Christian creeds and arid Church traditions that deify him. Yes, he is divine, for Chopra in the sense that he divines a way to Cosmic Consciousness. "

[ take what you like and toss the rest ]

"The message of Jesus was clear, simple and direct. But within a generation of his passion it was compromised in order to accommodate the widely conflicting views among those who claimed to follow him. "

[adjust, tweak, reform - everyone is happy]

"In contrast to a message originally intended to inspire people to the wonders of a world reborn in God, the emphasis nowadays makes it almost impossible to think of Jesus or even Christianity itself except in terms of the suffering savior who died to appease God's anger against us. The terrible toll this emphasis has exacted on the message is sensitively treated in a most compelling way in this very valuable new work."

[Collectors edition, shiny new special FX]

Why is the belief in Truth (yes, capital "T") so difficult for society to accept? Why is it deemed so radical and farfetched to claim Absolutes, yet so many EnlighteningNebulousEnergybalancediscoveringSoulseekingAstrologicallyfoundedKumbayaspiritsensingSecretsocietyCodebreakingEarthyorganic varieties of Religion are applauded and cheered on as Supreme forms of the purposeful life?

One of the things I have been struggling with lately is maintaining charity when I am relentlessly challenged by people who only want to argue for the sake of argument. I always find myself caught in a place where I would like to clear up misconceptions of Catholicism - if they are willing to listen - OR - I am trying my best to maintain composure (as they preface everything with "Well I know there's no God but..."). The problem I have is I get easily discouraged, as if I am losing the Battle for Souls, one fruitless argument at a time. I try to think about the words of St. Francis of Assisi: "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and use words if you have to." How can we fill others if we ourselves are not filled? St. Therese and her Little Way reminds me too that we can be witnessing every day in the simplest of deeds. Our lives are after all, composed primarily of many many little decisions and actions. If we can order every action firstly toward the glory of God, then to neighbor, and lastly toward ourselves, we will grow in holiness and realize where our Treasure lies (Fr. Altier - top ten 'say it as it is' Priests. I am slighly less intimidated by his frankness than I was a few months ago let's say -though I jokingly categorize confession with him as some kind of Mortification).

This Lenten ("Springtime") season, we should not be discouraged. This is a time for renewal - to emerge from the winter darkness of Sin, spiritually cleansed and refreshed.

Recommend:
Truth And Tolerance: Christian Belief And World Religions, Pope Benedict XVI
Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter
Lent and Easter Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton