Saturday, December 31, 2005

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone in my family,
all of my friends,
and to anyone who comes across this in their internet searches.


The LORD bless you and keep you:
The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
~~Numbers 6:24-26

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them....

Fr Rob of Thrown Back has a sweet story about a young child with his penguins that visited the Baby Jesus, here.

It was a long time ago, but I can remember some stories similar to this, as I imagine nearly any parent can. Treasure moments to hold onto as they grow up.

It goes too fast. I heard people say that so very often as we struggled with childhood illness, temper tantrums, "owies", over-filled schedules of dance, sports, plays, and so on, and way back then, it was so easy to simply say "yeah, I know... I can't wait ..." even when we LOVED them and did not want them to really grow up.

But it really does go by fast. Too fast. Treasure those little moments so that you can remember them when they are getting ready to have their own children... or when the last one is preparing to be married in just a few months....

Sigh, he was my kid who carried EVERY Fischer Price toy he had in his little fingers, hands in anyway he could get them there. And he took them every where... EVERYWHERE! And we could not leave til he had them once again, in his hands, entwined in fingers... I still cannot figure out how he carried so many. And, no... they could NOT go in a bag! Or a back pack... or anything... but his hands.

He also nightly listened to Bible Stories to go to sleep by. His all time favorite was Zacheus's story. And in Church, when anyone said that name, if they pronounced it incorrectly... he corrected them vehemently from where ever he sat, usually front row. He loved that story, and Dan and Louie were the ONLY ones who knew how to say that name, in his humble opinion.

There are treasured stories for each of my three... I am sure you have some for each of yours, too. Remember them.

They grow up much too fast!

God bless!

Friday, December 30, 2005

This Mother's Heart................

Two stories on news yesterday and today have my heart beating just a little faster/harder at the thoughts of what could have been....

First, the news broke about a baby (two year old) found drunk and staggering by police when they went to the home. At the hospital, it was learned that he had a blood alcohol level of
0.094 %!

The question on the news at first was if the parents, who were at the hospital giving birth to their third child would be held accountable. Later, the police said that they had no intention of charging the parents. However, today, I read that the father has been issued a restraining order to stay away from his children, his wife and their home.

The mother is said to be angry about everything.

I would be also.

But I also understand living with alcoholism, and the denial that one can be in that leads to this sort of thing happening. There are many mothers/fathers world wide who have at times had their children in the care of one afflicted -- often the children's own parent.

Sadly, I can count a few times when I did something almost equally as stupid without understanding the enabling and dangerous consequences. (Including going to work with him sober, knowing that by the time I got home, he would not be, calling frequently to 'check' on how things were. That was when I had just begun the road out of denial into the realm of honesty with myself, a slow process...).

I spent a lot of time angry back then myself.
Angry at the craziness.
Angry at the one who was 'to blame' for the craziness.
Angry mostly at myself for the craziness.
But I did not understand any of it.

I did not drink much, yet I let the one who did, drive. In fact, one of the 'hidden shames' of my own fourth and fifth step was one of many times that I had had nothing to drink at all

We did not make it even a half mile from the wedding reception of my sister in an ice storm, when the car began to slowly spin, caused by the sudden movement to correct a slow drift toward the ditch that began when dh had reached for something and looked away from the road for a second... he had been drinking a lot.

I prayed for safety. Out loud. LOUDLY asking God to PLEASE keep us safe and to protect not only us, but also the car from hitting the deep sections with poles... as we spun around and around, and then ... backed in..... to a family's yard...slowly.

We ended up in the ditch, in the ONLY safe place on that part of the road, backing in between two driveways on a sloped and manicured lawn, narrowly missing culverts, and two trees, in fact -- parked right in between them.

DH got out, as the two children screamed and cried, and said "I did pretty good, didn't I?" meaning, he 'steered' the car to where it landed!

WHAT??? Sober, I had driven to the reception at 15-20 miles per hour. Drunk, he was now leaving, under almost the same conditions, driving 25 mph. Sober, I had remained vigilant constantly. Drunk, he looked away and in doing so, the car 'followed' him in the direction he was looking. Quietly, I said his first name... and he looked up, and over corrected, causing us to spin out of control...and he thought that he had been the One to keep us safe???

Sadly, after others helped us to get out of the yard and back on the road, I actually yelled at my daughters, and told them to sit back down, and when the second became hysterical not wanting to go in our car, I forcibly put her into the car seat...and let dh drive again.

It took me a very long time to admit my stupidity to another human being (fourth and fifth step of Alanon). The fear I felt the rest of the way home (including going over a bridge and picturing us going OVER the edge... on the icy bridge itself) caused my anger. And that anger was mostly self-directed, but also misdirected.

The guilt and shame I felt for being "responsible" for the possible deaths of my two girls, and my unborn son, myself and dh was more than I could cope with, even though it had not happened.. and because I did not face the reality of the situation, other things like it happened again.

DH drove, because he was the man of the house... in my mind, and probably in his.

And, because, when I finally got honest with myself and another human being....because I was afraid of the resulting anger if I insisted on taking the keys and the car away from him.




The second story
on the news involves a teenager.

(Oh how grateful I am that none of mine pulled THIS one! The ones that each did was enough, but this one would have done me in... for sure... )

I can hear me. I bet if my kids read this THEY can hear me... Scared to death when the kid isn't HOME, I read in an email where he IS????

I would have been crying, screaming, praying, shaking, threatening what I would do to him when I got him home... pleading with God to keep him safe, calling anyone I could get ahold of for both help and prayers, calling the airlines, the police, my Senators/Congressmen... anyone who may be able to get my kid HOME.... NOW....

And when he got home? Grounded? Yes. Money taken away? Yes, and that passport, and the visa, and EVERYTHING else that could be used for ID to try something so dumb again... and his 'buddies' who knew and did not tell me? They probably would not want to come over for awhile, because as my kids always said... when Mom gets quiet... look out. And I would have NO idea what to say to them....

Eventually, there would be just a glimmer of pride in the fact that he was able to find his way around, etc... but that would take a VERY long time for me to get to that point.

Pictures of him being kidnapped, murdered, or a bomb, or... whatever.. would be playing too loudly and too clearly for me to hear the 'good' for some time...

.... a mother's heart....

Not seeing Narnia because it is 'Catholic propaganda?'

Clandestine Posted - 14 December 2005 : 19:47
Hey, that sounds like it's about Jesus or something. What the hell's with that?
I'm not anti-Catholic or anything, but I ain't going to no stupid Catholic propaganda movie. I hate that Catholic shit. It's bad enough getting that stuff stuffed down your mouth at school, I ain't paying for more and I ain't apologising for it. That's just the way I play it, homes.


Interesting what some people say about things that they apparently have no real knowledge of, isn't it? Found this comment on a review of Narnia here. The reviewer is from Ireland.

There always has to be someone to 'warn' others that there is a 'Christian theme', as the first comment at this site has done:

MythAlert Posted - 09 December 2005 : 00:23
Be aware, folks, that this movie is a retelling of the Christian myth. Aslan the Lion pays for the treachery of one of the children by torture and death at the White Queen's hands, only to rise again from the dead. Sound familiar? I'll be giving this one a miss.



But obviously Clandestine has no idea who CS Lewis was.

The entire series does have a very Christian message, as it is allegorical in nature. The basic message is also very Catholic. But CS Lewis was not Catholic himself, and therefore was not writing just for Catholic audiences.

The Chronicles of Narnia are children's stories with the ability to hold adult interest. I am always amazed when someone claims not to be 'anti-Catholic' as Clandestine does, yet goes on to show just how truly anti-Catholic he/she is in the assumptions he/she makes.

"Catholic propaganda movie"? Both Tolkien and Lewis would have a laugh at that one, I think.

Tolkien was the Catholic, yet MANY who do not realize/know this love his Trilogy. Lewis was an Anglican, not a Catholic, but carried the message of Jesus Christ to readers through many of the books he wrote. That fact is easily known by anyone who has ever read his work.

Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland and went on to Oxford University as a student. He left Christianity behind until later in life, when he was teaching there. He was a member of the 'Inklings' which was a group of friends who were also writers from the area. This group included JRR Tolkien.

He wrote, among others, Pilgrim's Regress, The Chronicles of Narnia, Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and Mere Christianity. For a much more complete list of his writings, see here.

Found a very interesting review of the movie here.

Actually, just in case they get 'lost', the titles/dates are:

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Narnia's Wild Ride Needs Deeper Magic


Thursday, December 8, 2005

It's Not a Tame Wardrobe:
2 Views & They're Both Mine

View One:
This is a Fantastic Film

View Two:
You can only see a movie for the first time once.

They are on the long side, but are written by Dr Bruce L Edwards who has done much work regarding C S Lewis, including his doctoral dissertation.



, , , .

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Quote frm Lincoln...? Fits today


From my visit to Dad 29 this afternoon, tracking back from Catholic Caveman to custosfidei to Front Page Magazine, where I could not find it....

Blog-hopping again...........

Janjan of With Issue has brought to our attention a quote by Mohammed Daoud, who planned the Munich Olympic kidnapping and murder of eleven Israeli Olympians in 1972.

Someguy of Mystery Achievement has two interesting posts, one that the original can be found here, reminding the BBC that Jesus Christ and his parents Mary and Joseph are Jewish after they had tried to assert that Mary and Joseph could not have made the trip today from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

The other discussing a suggestion to divide Jerusalem that originated from another blog ( here ), combining his post with another from smoothstone including photos of mosques with added photos on his own post.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

God Loves Every Embryo, Pope Says

God Loves Every Embryo, Pope Says


Wednesday, December 28, 2005 12:00:00 AM GMT


Man is the masterpiece of God's creation, and when a chld is conceived,
"God already sees the future of that still-unformed embryo,"
Pope Benedict XVI said at his public audience on December 28.

God recognizes a human being even when the unborn child "is not visible
to the eyes of other men,"
the Holy Father told the 20,000 people who gathered in St. Peter's Square. The Pope's meditation, based on Psalm 138,
also reflected his thoughts on the feast of the Holy Innocents.

Psalm 138 extols the power of God the creator, and his knowledge not only of the past and present, "but also the entire range hidden by the future," the Pope observed. God knows and loves the smallest of his creatures, and
sees every human being as the finest product of his handiwork,
he continued. He added that this theme is particularly appropriate for reflection during the Christmas season, as the world celebrates the God who was "made man for our salvation."

At the conclusion of his meditation, Pope Benedict recalled the tsunami that devastated southern Asia one year ago, and offered prayers for those still suffering from the aftermath, "and for those, even in other parts of the world, who have suffered natural disasters."

~~ Emphasis added by WI Catholic ~~


LIFE IS PRECIOUS FROM
CONCEPTION TO NATURAL DEATH.
CHERISH IT!
PROTECT IT.

"I will not cooperate with immoral, unjust laws corruptly and cowardly imposed on the American people for the sake of pretending to solve social and economic problems by murdering innocent children...Indeed, I will not obey unjust laws nor consent to cooperate with the murder of the sacred lives of God's precious children.
I could no more adhere to the unjust laws of this land, or in any way give credence to evil enshrined in law, than deny God Himself."
~~~Joan Andrews Bell

Sunday, December 25, 2005

God bless! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!


Going to be leaving soon for two nights/three days of celebrating Christmas with my family. Will be back sometime the 27th, and will be lighting candles on that day, as was suggested by Emanuele Ottolenghi here ( HT to Bookworm ).

This is one of the rare times that both Christmas and Hanukkah fall on the same day.
So I begin and end this entry with prayers that all who celebrate either or both
(and there ARE many who do this every year!)
have a very Blessed and Holy Holiday Season.

God bless! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!




Doc Accused of Nazi Clinic Atrocities Dies

Fyodor Garibaldi, The Church Militant brought this recent death to my attention.

Doc Accused of Nazi Clinic Atrocities Dies

VIENNA, Austria - Dr. Heinrich Gross, a psychiatrist who worked at a clinic where the Nazis killed and conducted cruel experiments on thousands of children, died Dec. 15, his family announced Thursday. He was 90.

Gross, who was implicated in nine deaths as part of a Nazi plot to eliminate "worthless lives," had escaped trial in March after a court ruled he suffered from severe dementia. No cause of death was given in a brief statement issued by his family

Good letter on Intelligent Design vs Darwin

Dad 29 has an interesting example of one of our 'notable' Wisconsin newspapers' publishing of Letters to the Editor here. This one on the topic of Intelligent Design vs Darwin. The credentials of the author of the original Letter are also ignored, in spite of having "TWO degrees: a B.S. Bio (Magna cum Laude) from Boston College, and an MS Educational Psych, (4.0 GPA) from UW-Milwaukee."